Mumbai, Goa to settle for Arsenal legends

PANAJI: FC Goa and Mumbai City FC, two franchisees without a marquee player of their own, will have to settle for Arsenal legends Robert Pires and Freddie Ljungberg as their star attractions in the Indian Super League.
Five of the eight franchisees have already signed marquee players of their own while Chennai Titans, the last-minute replacement for Bangalore, have been granted additional time to sign a marquee player due to their late-start.
Prashant Agarwal, technical partner and co-owner has made it clear that they will "sign a legend" as their marquee, leaving the likes of Goa and Mumbai to dip into the two-player marquee pool offered by IMG-Reliance.
"Ljungberg will be playing for Mumbai. He has already expressed his wish to play for us," a senior official from Mumbai City FC told TOI.
Ljungberg, who retired in 2012 after ending his playing career in Major League Soccer (MLS), has kept himself fit for the three-month league and is expected to play an influential role for the franchise, co-owned by Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor.
The arrangement of the former Sweden captain moving to Mumbai will go down well with Goa, who had set their eyes on Arsenal legend and France World Cup winner Robert Pires.
"Personally, and I am not saying this on behalf of the franchise, I would prefer Robert Pires. We have all seen him do wonderful things in the English Premier League with Arsenal. I have followed his career and I guess he has a much bigger profile too," said Shrinivas Dempo, co-owner of the Goa franchise.
Goa will also be delighted with the France legend's Portuguese connection -- his father is a Portuguese -- but there is a lot more to FC Goa's choice of marquee player in the ISL.
"Goa would be a fantastic franchise to represent but so would the teams from all the cities. They all have unique parts to them and it's been fun looking at the map where they all are and what there is to see," Pires said in an earlier exclusive interview with TOI.
A lot of uncomfortable questions have been raised about 40-year-old Pires -- member of Arsenal's all-conquering Invincibles -- and his ability to offer something tangible on the field for 90 minutes. But the France star comes to India after a training stint with his former club and a fitness certificate from Arsenal manager Arsene manager.
"I am very lucky that Arsene Wenger lets me train with the first team over the last few years. It's great to challenge yourself against the best players around," said Pires.
Marquee Players
Alessandro Del Piero (Delhi) Luis Garcia (Kolkata) David Trezeguet (Pune) David James (Kochi) Joan Capedevilla (NorthEast) Robert Pires (Goa) Freddie Ljungberg (Mumbai)