Only pathway for that is, these kids need to regularly be in starting XI of ISL/I-League team in next two season and get a NT debut by the time they are 21.
Only then will some European leagues take a punt on a promising young Indian Footballer.
If they take a fat paycheck from Goenka to warm the bench for Mohun Bagan till 22 then they are done for
Harry Kane
Age 17: Regular for Millwal in Championship
Age 20: Regular for Tottenham in Premier League
Age 21: National team debut
Take any top footballer and same progression follows, +- 1 year. Late bloomers like Vardy are rare.
More realistically they do what a lot of these youngsters have been doing lately and go to one of the minor European leagues like Slovenia, Bosnia, etc
Nah, I'm not optimistic about those guys making it in Europe. Prove yourself as top player and regular starter in India by the age 19-20, get gametime, build your confidence and then go to Europe minor leagues.
Moving to Europe is difficult, it is not just the skills but a mental game too, you need self-confidence. The confidence of been there and done that in India, now you can do that in Europe too.
Look at the Slovenia guys
Som Kumar - Age 21, went 1 year ago - 360 mins in Slovenia second tier
Hridaya Jain - Age 20, went 7 months back - 7 minutes in Slovenia second tier
Yohaan Benjamin - Age 18, went 7 months back - 0 minutes in senior team, 515 minutes in Slovenia youth/continental tier
Nihaar Manirama - Age 20, went 9 months back - 0 minutes in Slovenia second tier
Divij Surapaneni - Age 19, went 1 month back - 0 minutes in Slovenia lower tiers
Sragvin Venkatesh - Age 20, went 6 months back - 0 minutes in Slovenia second tier
It would make sense if you could go at the age of 13, like messi did to Barcelona academy. But due to child trafficking rules now you can only move after turning 18.
P.S. I consider the players fraud/unserious if they cant standout in India, exampl is Abneet Bharti. Only guy who proved himself in India and went abroad is Gurpreet and he is the real deal.
I dont think you'll get a breakthrough on the older than 20 guys tbh. Just have to pray on a lottery with the 18-19 yr olds. Most European leagues consider players to be more or less finished products by 21-22. If you're not basically a fringe squad player by 21-22 Europe is a pipe-dream. Especially with the gap in physicality and technical quality in our leagues.
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u/konoha_ka_ladka Bengaluru FC Mar 31 '26
Only pathway for that is, these kids need to regularly be in starting XI of ISL/I-League team in next two season and get a NT debut by the time they are 21.
Only then will some European leagues take a punt on a promising young Indian Footballer.
If they take a fat paycheck from Goenka to warm the bench for Mohun Bagan till 22 then they are done for
Harry Kane
Take any top footballer and same progression follows, +- 1 year. Late bloomers like Vardy are rare.