East Bengal may recruit Moghrabi in Asian quota

Kolkata: In a desperate bid to rope in a foreign player under the Asian quota, city football giants East Bengal have reportedly shown interest in signing Lebanese striker Akram Moghrabi.

East Bengal have discarded their South Korean striker Do Dong-hyun as coach Trevor Morgan did not approve of him. Since then, the red and gold brigade have been on the lookout for a player in this bracket.

A source close to the development told IANS on Wednesday that East Bengal are in talks with Moghrabi in order to fill up their Asian quota.

Mogharabi has played 26 matches for his country, scoring four times.

The 31-year old forward also scored 16 goals in 26 appearances for his present club Nejmeh SC.

Mogharabi was a part of the Churchill Brothers team that won the I-League in the 2012-13 season. Churchill have returned to the I-league after a two-year hiatus.

He had scored 10 goals for Churchill, including a hattrick against Delhi-based side ONGC.

Trinidad & Tobago marksman Willis Plaza, Ivan Bukenya of Uganda and Haiti's Wedson Anselme are the other three foreigners to join East Bengal so far.