Sunil Chhetri to join Sporting Clube de Portugal's B team?

Indian national team captain Sunil Chhetri is now going to don the famous Green and White colours of Sporting Clube de Portugal's B team, which plays in the Liga de Honra, which is Portuguese second division. The news was announced officially on the club's website, with a press release stating, "We have reached out to Indian football, aiming at its development in a market estimated by FIFA, to be of more than 20 million players, and in this context, Sunil Chhetri, captain of the Indian Football Association, an idol in that country, who symbolizes the dreams of all young players who aspire to play in Europe, will join the roster of the team "B",” the release said, according to media reports.

“With our experience in detecting and developing top players, we are ready, together with local partners, to find the best solutions to accelerate the development of football in India and find values that young people are likely to integrate in other stages of formation. A demonstration of the quality of our services reflects on our business value in one of the world’s most emerging markets," it added.

Chhetri’s agent Yogesh Joshee will be meeting with the club officials at a Delhi hotel on Thursday to finalise the contract. It’s expected to be a one-year deal; however, it couldn’t be confirmed. “I can’t tell you anything officially at the moment. I will be meeting the club officials on Thursday morning. If everything works out well, a formal announcement will be made later in the afternoon,” Joshee told DNA.

This will be Chhetri’s second international foray should be sign on the dotted line. Earlier, he had an unsuccessful stint with USA’s Major League Soccer club Sporting Kansas City. Chhetri attended the trials of Lisbon’s arch-rivals Benfica a couple of years ago, but the deal fell through. He was also linked to Scottish giants Rangers.