His name has been doing the rounds in the Indian footballing circles for quite some time now. Now, with FC Goa signing the young promising striker, Ishan Pandita, for the upcoming ISL 2020-21 season, football fans will finally get to see what the fuss is all about.
The 22-year-old, who has the experience of playing in Spain, has penned an initial one-year deal with the club and is set to be part of the squad that will play both in the ISL and the AFC Champions League this season.
Hailing from Jammu and Kashmir, Pandita was born in New Delhi before moving to Philippines and then Bengaluru. In order to get better training and learn the game, he moved to Spain in 2014.
After spending his initial days in the youth set up of UD Almera, he moved to CD Leganes. Pandita became the first Indian to sign a professional contract with a club in Spanish first division in 2016 when he joined the CD Leganes.
There, he turned out for the club's U-19 side, which at the time plied its trade in the Division de Honor Juvenil - the top level of the Spanish system for youth players.
He then moved to Nastic de Tarragona for a stint in their U-23 side before signing for Lorca FC.
"I am excited at the opportunity. I want to come in and show what I can do, and score goals for FC Goa. It is a team that creates a lot of chances, and the whole philosophy goes exactly with what my game is based on," Pandita said.
"I am an attacking player coming into the most attacking-minded team in India, so I can't be more ecstatic," he said.
In fact, ATK, East Bengal, Mumbai City and Kerala Blasters had shown interest in signing him, but he chose Goa. "What made me think [about] Goa, to be honest, was [because] the coach was very interactive with me and I didn't get that attention from any other club - the way I did from Goa," he was quoted as saying by goal.com. FC Goa have revamped their squad under the new head coach Juan Ferrando.
"Spain was getting a bit complicated for me personally with the whole COVID-19 situation and it was getting a bit difficult for me to find a team at a very good level,” said Pandita, according to goal.com. “Then this opportunity of FC Goa popped up. I spoke to the coach - Juan [Ferrando] - and it was a good talk. They were interested in taking me and I liked the ideology of the coach and his method of play. That made me come back home (India).
An injury, followed by player-coach issues, laid him low, before he rediscovered himself and his game at Lorca FC, under manager and former Uruguayan forward Walter Pandiani.
Pandita will soon be joining the FC Goa pre-season training under assistant coach Clifford Miranda. For the fans, though, they will have to wait till November to catch a glimpse of the exciting talent in action.
(With PTI inputs)