Not only have Bengaluru FC managed to successfully pull off a coup by signing Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, they are also the first Indian club to have paid a transfer fee to a foreign club for an Indian player.
Never before have we seen an Indian club offer transfer fee to sign an Indian player from abroad in the history of Indian football.
Goal can reveal that the 25-year-old initially wanted to put pen to paper with a European club and come on loan to India.
There were talks held with Portuguese club Boavista FC of Portuguese Primeira Liga. However, the Ox Axadrezados couldn’t rope in another goalkeeper on their roster as they already had three, namely Raphael Spiegel, Assis Gionavaz and Vagner da Silva, who joined the club this summer on loan from Belgium’s Royal Mouscron-Peruwelz.
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As the move to the Portuguese top division club broke down, Bengaluru FC’s Chief Technical Officer (CTO) Mandar Tamhane wasted little time to convince Gurpreet to sign for the club as he began negotiations with the Norwegian club last week.
Meanwhile, Stabaek too waited to release the goalkeeper until they signed a replacement. Gurpreet was also named on the bench on the game against Haugesung on August 13th. Hence, the transfer could take place after the tie.
Only on the final day of Swedish transfer window that Stabaek managed to rope in Swedish goalkeeper John Alvabage from IFK Goteborg on loan. It was then that the club decided to finally let go of Gurpreet Singh Sandhu to Bengaluru FC.
