Nepal’s star forward Bimal Gharti Magar is set to join i-league Mohun Bagan, India’s oldest existing football club, for the remainder of the season. 

The two sides have verbally agreed with Gharti Magar expected to leave for Monday to join the top flight Indian club in Kolkata for a written agreement. “We have agreed not to disclose the financial agreement between the two parties,” said Gharti Magar told the Post on Saturday. 

Mohun Bagan are currently in the fourth spot of the i-league with 17 points from 11 matches. In the double round robin league tournament, Gharti Magar will now feature in rest of the seven matches in the i-league. Mohun Bagan boast a trophy-laden history as the most successful club in India and have won the National Football League two times and the i-league title once. 

After becoming a hero of the country sinking in a 92nd minute equaliser against Pakistan in the 2013 Saff Championship in Kathmandu as 16-year old, Gharti Magar has been a most talked name in Nepali football since then. He had been influential in handing Nepal the Bangabandhu Gold Cup, South Asian Games football gold and AFC Solidarity Cup in the country’s title winning spree in 2016. 

Gharti Magar believed that it could be a start for his career as a professional footballer. “This is a beginning for me. I am in an initial phase of my professional career and have a long way to go. I am hopeful that this will open door for me in professional leagues like the Indian Super League and other foreign tournaments,” added the star forward who also led Nepal to 2015 Saff U-19 Championship at home.

As a rising footballer Gharti Magar, had few stints with few clubs in European including RSC Anderlecht of Belgium and FC Twenty20 of the Netherlands where he played for the age group teams of the top tier outfits of their respective countries. He had also spent time with Marbella FC, a nomadic club in Spain.