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Mumbai City FC announced that goalkeeper Phurba Lachenpa has signed a three-year contract extension with the club on Wednesday, June 28. The new deal will keep him with the Islanders at least until May 2026.
The 25-year-old shot-stopper has had a meteoric rise at Mumbai and cemented his spot as the numero uno in Des Buckingham's setup. On his contract extension with the defending ISL champions, Phurba averred in the club statement:
“Mumbai City is my second family and my home away from home. This club backed me, encouraged me and gave me the freedom to express myself. I want to continue to work hard for all the staff, the management, the fans and I want to repay the trust Des Buckingham has put in me."
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"I’m excited to continue this journey and I hope we can bring more moments of joy for our fans and everyone associated with the Mumbai City family,” he added.
The Sikkim-born knitted together a few exceptional pieces of performance between the sticks in the 2022-23 season and aided in the Islanders’ record-breaking ISL League Shield victory. In his 22 appearances in the league last season, he made 64 saves, conceded only on 23 occasions and maintained 7 clean sheets - the third highest across the league.
Buckingham will be hoping for more of the same from Phurba Lachenpa during his extended stay at the club.
"Excited to continue seeing his growth and development" - Des Buckingham elated after Phurba Lachenpa pens extension with Mumbai City FC
Beginning his career with Shillong Lajong's youth side, Phurba Lachenpa quickly earned a graduation to the senior team. Soon after, Real Kashmir came hunting for his signature in 2019.
During his stay with the Kashmir-based outfit, Lachenpa was adjudged the best goalkeeper in the I-League, before shifting base to Mumbai City FC in 2020.
His debut for the Islanders was nothing short of dramatic as he replaced Amrinder Singh at the last minute of extra-time in the 2020-21 ISL semi-final. His heroics in the penalty shootout against FC Goa meant Mumbai would reach their first-ever ISL final.
In his debut season, Phurba Lachenpa went on to win the ISL 'double' and then represented the club in the AFC Champions League a few months later. Hence, it was understandable why Des Buckingham was elated with Phurba's contract extension. The English tactician said in a club statement:
"Phurba had a good breakout season after waiting so long for his opportunity. He is a young and talented goalkeeper who has shown his qualities in numerous games last season. He is a humble and extremely hard-working player that has progressed his overall game well in the last 12 months. I am very happy he has signed to stay with us for three more years and am excited to continue seeing his growth and development over this time.”
Phurba's club performances didn't go unnoticed as national team head coach Igor Stimac called him up for the Blue Tigers in March 2023 ahead of the Tri Nation Tournament. However, due to an injury, he has been out of the Indian squad for the Intercontinental Cup and SAFF Championship. But there's no denying that Phurba Lachenpa is evolving into one of the brightest goalkeeping prospects in the country.
