English clubs are known for their global hunt for best football talent and in doing so they don’t even mind looking beyond traditional soccer rich nations. Asia is one such region where soccer is not as popular as other games are, but futuristic eyes don’t mind hiring players of best caliber from here. Chelsea often organizes competitions to find new talents in their early age of life and one such player they found back in 2010 is 14-year old Yan Dhanda who is an Indian origin player and is the discovery of ‘Search for an Asian star’ event held in UK, in fact, he was the winner in Under-11 age group. Later, he got a chance to get trained with the Blues and finally become a product to look for. He was since on the radar of many clubs like Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea itself, but young player only opted to make a shift to Anfield refusing others which means he becomes the first ever Indian player to go to the Reds. Apart from Liverpool, some other English clubs have also signed Asian players in the past, like Michael Chopra who was the first ever Indian player to play in English Premier League.
After Chelsea, he joined West Bromwich Albion academy and got extensive training sessions with them, and later he was called for the England’s national under-16 team. When he was selected in U-16 national team, Arsenal and Liverpool started preparing a deal for the youngster but it was Liverpool who could finally catch him right on time. The deal terms are still unknown but according to rumors in the media, he is signed up for a three to five years period and after that he would be given a chance to join Red’s senior team. The news was flashed by the player himself through his Twitter account, in fact, he was too jubilant to see his name under Liverpool official players; he tweeted, “OFFICIALLY A LIVERPOOL FC PLAYER!!!!!!!”
The news brings good prospects for young Indian players who are engaged with various youth academies here in the UK coz this could be the beginning for them to see their future career residing with some finest soccer playing destinations. Actually, Gunners were even more interested in signing him after looking his brilliant striking skills through a YouTube video, perhaps if he could join them; he would have probably been the youngest player to make it to Arsenal’s senior team. Anyways, let’s hope to see another Neymar in the making!