Indian starlet Dheeraj Moirangthem rejects AIFF offer

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Bengaluru, October 25: India's brightest star at the FIFA U17 World Cup, Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem has rejected a three-year contract from the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to be part of the federation's rebranded Pailan Arrows project in the I-League next season, according to reports.

The 17-year-old goalkeeper impressed everyone at the FIFA U17 World Cup but despite all his effort, India were unable to win a single a game in the prestigious tournament hosted by the nation.

The lad from Manipur conceded nine goals in three matches but made the third highest number of saves (16) in the group stage.

He looked unbeatable under the bar despite his defence being beaten easily by the opponents and in doing so he caught the eye of the whole nation.

AIFF are trying their best to keep the Under-17 players of India together as they will field a team in the upcoming I-League but many of the players are not prepared to commit their futures to AIFF as they want to play in ISL.

In the case of Dheeraj, he has also impressed a number of scouts from foreign countries. He is not just a good shot-stopper but he is also a good distributor of the ball which most managers want from their keepers nowadays.

It is also believed that Dheeraj aside, two other members of the India U17 World Cup squad have refused to sign on the dotted lines. Komal Thatal is one and India's World Cup captain Amarjit Singh Kiyam is the other.

Dheeraj was linked to ISL outfit Kerala Blasters as soon as India's U17 World Cup campaign ended 12 days ago, while there were also noises of interest from foreign clubs like Borussia Monchengladbach and Galatasaray over the 5ft 9in custodian.

He is currently looking at every option possible and hence rejected the AIFF's advances.