Chennaiyin sign India U-19 footballers Rahim, Abhijit, Deepak

Chennai : Indian Super League (ISL) title holders Chennaiyin FC on Wednesday announced the signing of teenagers Rahim Ali (18), Abhijit Sarkar (18) and Deepak Tangri (19) on three-year deals each.

The trio will be loaned back to the All India Football Federation (AIFF)'s developmental outfit Indian Arrows for the upcoming 2018-19 I-League season.

All three are current India U-19 internationals with Abhijit and Rahim also representing the country in last year's FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Both Abhijit and Rahim are products of AIFF's Elite Academy while Deepak got his early football education at Chandigarh Football Academy and then in the youth system of Mohun Bagan.

Rahim is a centre forward who hails from West Bengal and like Deepak, has previously played for Mohun Bagan at the youth level. He featured in all three of India's matches at the 2017 U-17 FIFA World Cup and was a regular starter under Luis Norton de Matos for Indian Arrows in last season's I-League.

Abhijit, also from West Bengal, is a very versatile player in the attacking third as he can operate both as an attacking midfielder and upfront. He played in the fixtures against US and Colombia at the U-17 World Cup. He was Arrows' highest scorer in the I-League, netting four goals.

Punjab boy Deepak signed for Indian Arrows last season and was a key figure for them in the I-League. Although naturally a defender, Arrows mainly used Deepak as a defensive midfielder due to his physical presence.

He has gone on to become a youth international for India, recently scoring in the 2-1 win over the Argentina U20s last month in the COTIF Cup in Spain.