Football: 19-year-old home-grown Indian player loaned to top Spanish side

In what can only be seen as a great feat for Indian Football and how far it's come, 18-year-old FC Pune City Academy player, Ashique Kuruniyan has been loaned off to La Liga side Villarreal. The young player from Kerala is the first player to be contracted to the Spanish side and will join the third division team of Villarreal. Ashique is the first home-grown Indian academy player to be selected for the top Spanish side.

Fernando Roig, Villarreal President has stated that this is just the first step and will been keenly identifying Indian talent and giving them a chance to play in Europe.

Featured image(courtesy): Indiatimes.com