Kerala Blasters sign 22-year old forward Thongkhosiem Haokip for ISL season three

Mumbai: Kerala Blasters on Thursday announced the signing of Thongkhosiem Haokip for the upcoming edition of the Indian Super League. Popularly known as ‘Semboi’, the 22-year-old Haokip, had a fabulous run last season scoring four goals from six appearances for FC Goa. He will now don the yellow jersey for Kerala Blasters, said a media release. [caption id=“attachment_2510734” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Thongkoisep Haokip. ISL[/caption] “I am excited to be a part of Kerala Blasters and hope to justify the faith put in me by the coach and the management. I am looking forward to meet and train with my new teammates and coach Steve Coppell,” said the youngster on his signing with the franchise, co-owned by cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar. Haokip started his career with the Pune FC youth academy where he became the first academy player to net a hat-trick in an under-20 match. In the 2014-15 I-League season, he scored three times within 15 minutes against Shillong Lajong and finished the season as the highest Indian goal scorer with seven goals in 18 matches. Manipur-born Haokip, who has represented the country at the Under-23 level and was also part of the 2014 Asian Games squad, repeated the hat-trick in the previous season of ISL, thus becoming the first Indian player to score a hat-trick both in the ISL and the I-League. On signing the striker Viren D’Silva, CEO, Kerala Blasters said, “We welcome the young, ever smiling Thongkhosiem Haokip into the Kerala Blasters family. We were impressed with his performances last season for FC Goa and hope he continues his form into this year. The coaching staff have earmarked him as one for the future.”