Struggling with form and fitness, Pradeep hopes to rise in the East

In fact, after spending the last 10 months struggling with both form and fitness, Pradeep could be back in the spotlight under rather controversial circumstances. The midfielder, who donned Mahindra United colours last season, says he has signed on with Kolkata giants East Bengal. But Mahindra are not too pleased as they say Pradeep is contracted with them until 2010 and as far as they are concerned, he remains a Mahindra player. Team manager Derrick Perreira told The Indian Express that they would be filing a complaint with the AIFF over the transfer.

But Pradeep says he doesn’t know what the fuss is about. “I had signed a two-year contract with Mahindra in 2007 and they had said that if I got better money from any other place, money that they wouldn’t be able to match, then I could move out.

“I don’t know why they are creating problems now. I am sure things will settle down and I will play for East Bengal this season,” Pradeep said.

Good times and bad

He came up with a wonderful show in the Nehru Cup last year — it helped him bag the Indian Footballer of the Year award as well — but even at that time, he was struggling to overcome a personal loss.

“My father had passed away a week before I was called up for the Nehru Cup camp. I had dedicated that goal to him.”

After the crest came a trough. Pradeep sustained a knee injury during the Durand Cup and was out of action for three months, thus missing out on the first eight matches of the I-League.

But then, Pradeep is no stranger to hardships. “My father wasn’t earning enough to support the family. It is because of my mother that I am still playing. She sold my sister’s gold earrings to buy me a pair of boots,” the mid-fielder recalled.

Prodigiously gifted, Pradeep played for Idduki district before he was spotted by State Bank of Travancore in 2001 and his career took off.