Panaji: FC Goa defender Anwar Ali has signed a pre-contract with ATK Mohun Bagan that will take him to Kolkata,
starting next season, in a four-year deal.

According to sources, the agreement with Delhi FC, the club where Anwar is contracted, is for a four-year period on loan
that will cost the Kolkata giants Rs 11 crore plus taxes. The amount covers player cost and loan fees.

Anwar is on loan to Goa till May 31, having signed him on an 18-month deal in January last year. The first six months cost the club Rs 30 lakh and the second season (2021-22) will now cost them Rs 80 lakh, which includes a Rs 30 lakh transfer fee.

“FC Goa’s contract with Anwar and Delhi FC had a clause which gave them the right to match any offer that the player
receives at the end of his loan period. But the offer from ATK Mohun Bagan was too big,” said a source who has tracked the development.

Since joining Goa in January last year, Anwar has been the first-choice at the back for all coaches. This season, he is the
only player to have played every minute for the club.

In 2019, things seemed to be going badly for the defender who was banned from football after being diagnosed with a heart condition. For the next 22 months, Anwar was forced to stay away from the sport, and had it not been for the efforts of his mentor, Ranjit Bajaj, his future could have unfolded very differently.

Thanks to Bajaj who sought the opinion of experts from London, Anwar was eventually allowed to play by the All
India Football Federation (AIFF) Anwar grabbed the chance with both hands, even making it to the national team where he scored against Hong Kong, four years after seeing his playing career effectively ended on health grounds.

The talented defender had shot to fame at the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2017 when he played every minute of India’s
campaign. He was then a regular for Indian Arrows in the ILeague, part of the senior India team too, before tests showed that he had a congenital heart problem.