East Bengal have completed the signing of Spanish defender Marti Crespi
East Bengal have completed the signing of Spanish
defender Marti Crespi ahead of the 2019-20 season of the I-League, the club
announced on Wednesday.
The 32-year-old started his professional career with Mallorca
and spent three seasons on loan at Elche, Granada and Xerez. He went on to join
the Spanish top division side, Racing Santander in 2013, before moving onto CE
Sabadell FC in Segunda B.
The defender then shifted base to China, representing the
likes of Qingdao Huanghai and Nei Mongol Zhongyou, before taking the decision
to come to India with Delhi Dynamos. Crespi has also played for the Spanish
national team in the U-19 and U-20 categories.
Quess East Bengal FC is happy to announce that the club has
signed dynamic Spanish defender Marti Crespí Pascual for this season.
Crespi joined Indian Super League (ISL) side Dyanmos last
season. He made 15 appearances and helped keep his side only two clean sheets
in a season where the Dynamos failed to make it to the playoffs, finishing
eighth with eighteen points from as many games under former Barcelona youth
coach Josep Gombau.
He returns to India for a second successive season, but this
time trades the ISL for the I-League. Also, he links up with another Spanish
coach in the form of Alejandro Menendez, who was the head coach of Real Madrid
'B' during the time Jose Mourinho was in-charge of the senior setup.
East Bengal are aiming to win their first ever I-League.
Under Menendez last season, they finished runners-up to Chennai City. The Red
and Golds have retained Borja Gomez, with whom Crespi will look to form a solid
central defensive partnership in the upcoming season.
The senior team begin their pre-season training in the city
on 10 July. They have also extended the contracts of three academy graduates -
Prakash Sarkar, Manoj Mohammed and PC Rohlupuia until the end of the 2022-23
season.
