Kerala Blasters striker and captain for last season, Bartholomew Ogbeche, has reportedly bid goodbye to his teammates, ahead of the upcoming season of the Indian Super League.
Though neither the club nor the player has made it official, it is learnt that the Nigerian texted a farewell message to his teammates saying that he would not be part of the Kerala Blasters team in the upcoming season. He, reportedly, said that he was proud to have shared the dressing room with them all and added that they can reach out to him for any help whenever they want.
Ogbeche was the joint top-scorer in ISL 2019-20, with 15 goals, but it could not prevent the Kerala Blasters from finishing seventh in the ten-team tournament.
He had joined the Blasters after a prolific season the year before with the Northeast United FC, guiding them to the playoffs for the first time in the club’s history, under coach Eelco Schattorie. The coach-striker duo were signed by the Blasters for the last season, and though the former Paris Saint-Germain striker carried on his good form, Schattorie could not duplicate his success with Kerala, mainly because of injuries to several of his key players.
With Blasters replacing Schattorie with Kibu Vicuna, Ogbeche, too, is on the way out and is expected to play for Mumbai City FC in the upcoming ISL season.
All matches of the seventh edition of ISL will be held in three venues in Goa, likely in November, amid strict health and safety measures to deal with the COVID-19 threat. The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at Fatorda, Margao, Tilak Nagar Stadium at Vasco da Gama and the GMC Athletic Stadium at Bambolim are the venues slated to host the matches.
