The 24-year-old, who represented Blacktown City FC in state-level New South Wales Premier League till Sunday night, has signed up for East Bengal till January end next year.
In a bid to revive their team after a poor run in the I-League last year, East Bengal has gone Down Under to get former Sydney FC striker Tolgay Ozbey to their club.
The 24-year-old, who represented Blacktown City FC in state-level New South Wales Premier League till Sunday night, has signed up for East Bengal till January end next year.
The contract (pre-contract) was signed last Wednesday with transfer formalities completed on Monday night. Ozbey is now waiting for his visa. “We just had to wait for his release from his club today (Monday). Central Coast Mariners in the A-League wanted to sign him but he chose India,” said Ozbey’s agent Paul Dickinson.
Meanwhile, East Bengal confirmed that they have signed Ozbey and are trying to get the striker as soon as possible. “He has some problems in getting his Visa but we are trying our level best to get him as soon as possible,” said an East Bengal official.
Ozbey scored 22 goals in 21 matches for his side this season to win the Golden Boot. This was Ozbey’s third Golden Boot award in the NSW Premier League after the marksman picked up the award in 2006 scoring 17 goals and in 2007 scoring 15 goals, which led many of his peers to label him as a goal-scoring machine.
In a bid to keep his striking instincts awake, Ozbey chose to join the Kolkata giants since it would be off-season back home.
“I signed my contract (with EB) few hours ago today (Monday) since, till yesterday, I was contracted with Blacktown,” Ozbey told DNA from Sydney. He also said he has an option to renew the contract with the club after January next year.
Ozbey is probably the first A-League player to join an Indian club. He played for Newcastle Jets in 2006-07 season when the side won the inaugural A-League championship.
Ozbey, who has played with the likes of Dwight Yorke, David
Carney and others at Newcastle Jets, was excited about coming to India for the first time. “I have heard that during the East Bengal vs Mohun Bagan match, the stadium has like one lakh people attending, you don’t get to see that even for a Barcelona match,” said Ozbey.
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