Chhetri to sign contract with Kansas City Wizards on Friday

New Delhi, Mar 24 (PTI) India striker Sunil Chhetri will sign a contract with
United States Major League Soccer side Kansas City Wizards Friday, the MLS
club said Thursday. "Indian forward Sunil Chhetri has agreed in
principal to a deal with Major League soccer, pending medical and P-1 Visa
approval," KC Wizards Manager Peter Vermes said in a release issued for the
Indian media. "One thing we really like about Sunil is that he's a
crafty player. Technically he's very sharp, and he's a guy that has good
attacking tendencies," he added. After signing his contract, Chhetri
will hold a press conference on early Friday morning (Thursday evening USA
time). A teleconference of Indian media is being organised at 9 am on
Friday by the Bangalore office of Cerner Corporation, a medical software
company headquartered at North Kansas City whose boss Neal Patterson is the
owner of KC Wizards. Chhetri will become the third Indian player to
ply trade in a professional league abroad after Mohamed Salim and current
national captain Bhaichung Bhutia. Salim played for Scottish side
Celtic in pre-independence days of India while Bhaichung was with English
Championship side Bury FC in the second division from 1999-2002. The
25-year-old from Delhi will become the first Indian and eighth Asian citizen
to play in MLS. He will also be the first Asian to play for the Kansas City
Wizards. Chhetri, who arrived in Kansas City on Tuesday night, will
join the team for training later in the week. KC Wizards play their first
match of MLS season on Saturday against DC United. Chhetri has been a
regular with the Indian national team since 2004, scoring 16 goals in 35
appearances. His most famous moment with the national team came in 2008,
when he scored a hat-trick in the final of the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup
against Tajikistan. Because of the victory in that tournament, India
qualified for the 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar, the first time after 1984.
Chhetri began his professional career in 2002 with Mohun Bagan, scoring
eight goals in 18 appearances over three years with the team. He later
played for I-League sides JCT, East Bengal and Dempo, making 75 appearances
and scoring 35 goals over the next five years, earning Indian Player of the
Year honour from the All India Football Federation in 2007. Chhetri
drew interest from British clubs Leeds United and Glasgow Celtic and
appeared for trials last year with English Championships (second division)
sides Coventry City and Queen's Park Rangers. QPR offered Chhetri a
contract but could not complete his move after the English Home Office
denied him a work permit due to India's low FIFA rankings. PTI