Mohun Bagan close to signing Aussie Ferreira

Kolkata, August 9: Mohun Bagan have been quite impressive during the transfer window thus far and are looking to bolster their squad further ahead of the upcoming season by signing Diogo Alexandre Alves Ferreira.

The Australian defensive midfielder has cleared his medical and will sign his contract with Kolkata giants soon.

The club confirmed that they are keen to have Ferreira for the 2017 Calcutta Football League (CFL) Premier Division A starting next week.

The 27-year-old comes with an impressive resume having represented A-League clubs such as Melbourne Victory, Brisbane Roar and Perth Glory Down over the years and would represent a massive statement of intent by Mohun Bagan.

The Aussie came out of the famed academy of Portuguese giants FC Porto and has represented the Socceroos in Olympics.

Most recently, he plied his trade in the Malaysian Super League at Pulau Penang FA where he was coached by Ashley Westwood, former Bengaluru FC head coach and currently the technical director of Bagan's Indian Super League counterparts from the city of joy, ATK.

After Westwood was sacked within three months for failing to win a single league game, new coach Zainal Abidin Hassan took the decision to ship out Ferreira and team-mate Andrew Russell for their poor displays.

The former Australian U-23 player has been a free agent since May 10 and will be looking to sign his first professional contract in India next week.

The Green and Maroon brigade also released a statement to inform that they had parted ways with Denson Devadas under mutual consent as head coach Shankarlal Chakraborty did not deem him fit to feature in his plans for the CFL campaign, a title which has eluded Bagan since 2009.

Surchandra Singh (formerly of DSK Shivajians and Churchill Brothers) and Souvik Das (formerly of Pailan Arrows and Minerva Punjab FC) have also secured professional contracts for the CFL, after impressing the Bagan management in a week-long trial.