ISL 2018-19: League-leaders Bengaluru FC rope in Luis Manuel Villa, Chencho Gyeltshen joins Neroca on loan

Bengaluru: Indian Super League leaders Bengaluru FC on Thursday roped in attacking Spanish midfielder Luis Manuel Villa after Bhutan’s Chencho Gyeltshen completed his loan move to I-League club Neroca FC for the remainder of the season. [caption id=“attachment_5994501” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Chencho Gyeltshen. Twitter@IndSuperLeague[/caption] Bengaluru FC signed Luis Manuel Villa, popularly known as Luisma, till the end of the 2018-19 campaign. Luisma is a product of the Racing Santander youth setup. He made several appearances with the Santander B side before making his La Liga debut with the Green and White in 2007. After playing for Segunda Division B sides, Luisma represented Real Union and Deportivo Alaves, among other clubs. “I am very happy to have signed for Bengaluru FC, and I can’t wait to start playing for the club. I am eager to meet my new teammates and to play my part in the rest of the season. I know BFC is a club that wins trophies and I want to help them do that,” he said. In 2013, Luisma made his move to England and scored 17 goals in two seasons playing for Conference Premier side Barnet. He later returned to Spain in 2015, joining Arenas Club de Getxo, before a short spell at SD Ponferradina last season. Luisma is expected to be available for selection ahead of Bengaluru’s clash against Kerala Blasters on 6 February. Earlier in the day, Bengaluru FC announced that Chencho has completed his loan move to Neroca. “Bhutanese winger @Che7cho Gyeltshen has today completed a loan move to I-League side @NerocaFC until the end of the 2018-19 season,” Bengaluru FC announced on their twitter handle. Chencho will be joining the camp in Bhubaneswar and it remains to be seen if he would play against Indian Arrows on Friday. He is expected to get more match time compared to Bengaluru, where he has clocked only 359 minutes for BFC this season. Chencho’s inclusion should bolster NEROCA’s attack. Right now, the team is placed fifth on I-League table with 22 points in 14. The Blues star, who is also known as Ronaldo of Bhutan, has been improving his skills and is never shy of making acrobatic efforts to score goals with the help of his speedy game. Chencho had a fantastic outing last evening against North East United when he smashed the deciding goal in 71st minute which helped Bengaluru to reclaim the top spot in the ISL points table. Chencho has scored two goals this Indian Super League season and both came against North East United. The earlier goal had helped Blues to keep intact their unbeaten run.