Sunil Chhetri signs new deal with Bengaluru FC; skipper to stay till 2021

JSW Group-owned Bengaluru FC and Sunil Chhetri are not waiting till the current contract expiration. The Blues have awarded a year contract extension that will see the versatile striker playing with the club until the end of the 2020-2021 season.

Bengaluru FC captain Sunil ChhetriMANJUNATH KIRAN/AFP/Getty Images

Sunil Chhetri, the captain of the Indian national football team and Indian Super League club Bengaluru FC, has signed a contract extension with the club. The 33-year-old signed a fresh one-year deal that will see him wearing Bengaluru FC jersey until the end of the 2020-2021 season.

Chhetri had earlier signed a three-year deal with the Bengaluru FC before the club switched from i-League to Indian Super League last season. Chhetri is the longest serving player at the club since its formation in 2013. He is also Bengaluru FC's highest goal scorer, with 71 goals in 144 appearances.

"I have always said that this club and these fans have been the most fantastic experience of my life and signing a new deal here is only a way of giving back to a club that has given so much to me. I've made some fantastic memories here and I believe there are many more to make," Chhetri said.

Chhetri signed a new deal just days after he won 2017 All India Football Federation (AIFF) Player of the Year title. The versatile striker recently became the second Indian footballer to play 100 international games after Bhaichung Bhutia.

Bengaluru FC's Sunil Chhetri (C) and Delhi Dynamos' Claudio Matias Correa try to head the ballMANJUNATH KIRAN/AFP/Getty Images

Chhetri started his football career way back in 2002 with Mohun Bagan. In the 16-year old career so far Chhetri had played for East Bengal, Dempo, Chirag United and Mumbai City FC. He had also made an appearance for American professional soccer club, Sporting Kansas City in 2010. Since his arrival to Bengaluru FC in 2016, Chhetri is an integral part of JSW Group-owned sides campaign.

Bengaluru FC is the runner-up of Indian Super League season 4 and defending Super Cup champions. Under the new head coach, Carles Cuadrat the Blues are in pre-season training at their residential facilities in Bellary. The team will soon fly out to Spain for a preseason camp. The Blues' first competitive match of the season will kick off when they take on Turkmenistan's Altyn Asyr FK in a two-legged Inter-Zone semifinal of the AFC Cup, on August 22 and 29.