Reading bid $1m for India's Fernandes
Reading have made an offer of $1million to sign Brandon Fernandes - a
midfielder born in Goa.
By Andy May
If the deal goes through it will mean the 19-year-old becomes the first
Indian to sign for a Premier League club. Fernandes has spoken exclusively
to ESPN STAR Sports and said moving to Reading would be a dream come true.
"It is a great honour to have had a trial with Reading and [if a deal can be
reached] I will be very happy to play for them.
"I have been training with the club's under-21s which is a good experience.
I think that if I want to move to England I need to match their players
physically."
Fernandes' future will be decided by ASD Cape Town - an independent South
African football academy based in the country's second-largest city. And as
negotiations with Reading continue, their target is currently training with
Championship club Leicester City.
"I have known about Leicester for a long time, particularly because of Gary
Lineker. I have watched his goals for the club.
"There are a lot of Indian supporters in the city of Leicester so if I came
here [instead of Reading] I am sure I would get lots of encouragement from
them."
Leicester and Reading are not the first English teams to have been alerted
to Fernandes' ability and potential - in 2008 he impressed scouts at a
Manchester United Soccer Skills tournament. He has also played for his
country at Under-17 and Under-19 level and describes himself as an attacking
midfielder.
Fernandes has football in his family - his father is a former executive
committee member of the Goa Football Association and his younger brother is
named Beckham Fernandes. Unlike Brandon though, Beckham - named after the
former United and Real Madrid player - likes cricket instead of football.
Source: http://bit.ly/V8QfPA
Goanet News Service
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