Bengaluru FC extent ‘injured’ Semboi’s contract - Player to stay for a year more

Thongkhosiem Haokip has signed a one-year contract extension with Bengaluru FC, the club announced on Sunday. The extension, considered by many as a goodwill gesture, will see the Kuki footballer with the Blues till the end of the 2020-21 season.

Semboi, as he is fondly called, pulled his hamstring against ATK at home in February. The forward's hamstring pull is reported to be a stage 3 tear, which will take him at least 6-8 months to be able to make a come back. One match before the ill-fated day, Semboi scored a hat-trick in the AFC Cup against Paro FC, when he pumped in four goals to hand his side a 9-1 win.

The four goals against the Bhutanese made him the only Indian player to register a hat-trick in three competitions - the AFC Cup, Indian Super League and the I-League. The 27-year-old registered his I-League hat-trick in January 2015 when Pune FC (now dissolved) blast five goals past Shillong Lajong (5-2). The same year in November, he scored three goals when FC Goa beat Mumbai City FC 7-0 to register his ISL hat-trick.

Semboi was part of Pune FC Academy’s golden generation, who earned his I-League debut in 2013, promoted from the U-18 side. After being part of the I-league - ISL switch for 3 years, which took him to FC Goa, Salgaocar FC, Kerala Blasters FC and East Bengal, Semboi finally settled down with Bengaluru FC in 2017.

In his three seasons with the Blues, Semboi has amassed a mere 1,387 minutes of game-time, scoring ten goals. But his market value shot up from 75K euro to 125K Euro during this time.