After returning last season empty-handed, Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club Limited have formed a potentially title-winning squad with nine national footballers and a number of quality foreign players. Sheikh Jamal, runners-up in the last edition of the domestic football league, registered on Saturday 25 footballers in their squad for the forthcoming season including five foreigners.
Having featured for Sheikh Russell Krira Chakra and Muktijoddha Sangsad in the previous two seasons respectively, national captain and playmaker Mamunul Islam has joined the Dhanmondi-based outfit this time.
Sheikh Jamal have also roped in the services of Haitian playmaker Sony Norde from Sheikh Russell with a record transfer fee while national defender Mohammed Linkon also signed for the Yellow-Blue outfit.
Young and exciting Bangladesh forward Toklis Ahmed, who plied his trade with Team BJMC last season, was one of the important inclusions for Sheikh Jamal while national midfielder Sohel Rana and national winger Mobarak Hossain Bhuiyan have also added strength to the squad.
Shakhawat Hossain Rony, another national footballer who played for Abahani Limited last season, has also decided to join the star-studded top-flight club.
Sheikh Jamal have retained national defenders Nasiruddin Chowdhury and Raihan Hasan in their squad while goalkeeper Ziaur Rahman, previously at Muktijoddha, also signed for the big-budget outfit.
‘I believe, with the players at our disposal, anything less than four trophies will be disappointing,’ said Sheikh Jamal’s Nigerian coach Joseph Afusi at a press conference at the Bangladesh Football Federation House on Saturday.
‘I believe we have the best team. I don’t want to compare last season’s team with this one. But we have a good coaching staff, financial backing and the best players,’ he added.
Sheikh Jamal nominated Mamunul as captain and the left-footed midfielder was confident about success in the upcoming season.
‘We have replacements at every position. We have a reserve bench that is almost as good as the reserve bench of the national team,’ said Mamunul.
Meanwhile, Manjur Kader, president of Sheikh Jamal claimed that they have spent Tk nine crore to assemble this team and expressed hope that the club will aim to win all the competitions they enter.
‘This is the best possible football team in Bangladesh. We have recruited all the best players of the country including the captain and vice-captain [Nasiruddin] of the national team,’ said Kader before going on to add that, ‘We also have the highest-paid footballer [Sony Norde] in the country’s history. Since this will be a three-legged league, we have enough reserves taking injuries and suspensions into consideration. There is no reason we should not be able to win all the silverwares this season.’
-With New Age input
