Chennaiyin sign three U- 19 players

Indian Super League champions Chennaiyin FC have signed three India under- 19 players on a three- year contract.

Rahim Ali ( 18), Abhijit Sarkar ( 18) and Deepak Tangri ( 19) will represent Chennaiyin FC in the coming ISL season, a club release said on Wednesday.

The players would be loaned back to the All India Football Federation’s developmental outfit Indian Arrows for the upcoming 2018- 19 I- League season.

All three are current India Under- 19 internationals with Abhijit Sarkar and Rahim Ali also representing the country in last year’s Fifa U- 17 World Cup.

Both Abhijit and Rahim are products of the AIFF’s elite academy while Deepak got his early football education at Chandigarh Football Academy and then in the youth system of Mohun Bagan.

Rahim is a centre forward who hails from West Bengal and like Deepak, has previously played for Mohun Bagan at the youth level.

Abhijit, also from West Bengal, played in the fixtures against USA and Colombia at the Under- 17 World Cup.

He was Arrows’ highest scorer in the I- League, netting four goals.

Punjab player Deepak signed for the Indian Arrows last season and recently scored in India’s 2- 1 win over Argentina U- 20s last month in the COTIF Cup in Spain.