Bengaluru FC signs Pratik Chaudhari and Lalthuammawia Ralte

Pratik Chaudhari has arrived at Bengaluru FC after spending a year with Mumbai City FC, while Lalthuammawia Ralte is back for a third stint at the club.

Centre-back Pratik Chaudhari joined Mumbai City FC in 2019 and has moved to Bengaluru FC after a year.

Bengaluru FC, on Wednesday, announced the signings of defender Pratik Chaudhari and goalkeeper Lalthuammawia Ralte, ahead of its 2020-2021 Indian Super League season. Chaudhari, who turned out for Mumbai City FC last season, and Ralte - who was previously a part of the BFC squad from 2014 to 2018 -signed two-year deals with the Blues.

Chaudhari started his career at Air India in 2011, before stints with Mohun Bagan, Mumbai FC, Rangdajied in the I-League. Bengaluru will be his fifth club in the Indian Super League, with the 30-year-old having turned out for Kerala Blasters, Delhi Dynamos and Jamshedpur FC, apart from the Islanders, in the past.

“It’s always a nice feeling when you find out that one of the best clubs in the country is interested in you and I’m extremely glad that this deal has gone through. To have an opportunity to play among some of the best Indian and foreign players in the League is something I am excited about,” said Chaudhari.

Ralte, meanwhile, is no stranger to the Bengaluru FC camp, having been a part of the side in four title winning campaigns, and on the team that faced Air Force Club in the 2016 AFC Cup final. Since joining the Blues from Shillong Lajong in 2014, the 27-year-old has played for NorthEast United, FC Goa and Kerala Blasters in the Indian Super League, and was most recently on loan at East Bengal FC.

“I am returning to the club for a third stint is and I am very happy about. Apart from the fact that I will be in a team that is hungry to win, I have a bond with the city and the fans and that is something that I look forward to returning to,” said Ralte.

Having handed fresh new deals to foreigners Juanan Gonzalez, Erik Paartalu and Dimas Delgado and youth prospects Leon Augustine, Parag Shrivas, Edmund Lalrindika, Ajay Chhetri, Naorem Roshan Singh and Namgyal Bhutia, the signings of Chaudhari and Ralte mark the first of the Blues’ incoming players for the new campaign.