Joe Garner leaves Wigan Athletic, set to join SC East Bengal

East Bengal will have Joe Garner join them in December to become the team’s seventh foreign player for the 2020-2021 India Super League season.

The forward who last played for Wigan Athletic will undergo a 14-day quarantine once he gets to India before joining the team.

Despite having the likes of Jeje Lalpekhlua, Balwant Singh, and CK Vineeth in their squad, East Bengal knows there is a need to add more strength to the Frontline going into the India Super League for the first time.

Garner fits the bill with his experience in English football with Wigan in the lower leagues. Joe Garner started with Blackburn Rovers in 2007 in the Premier League.

He didn’t make his first-team debut with the Premier League team before moving to the League One on loan with Carlisle United, where he made his professional debut.

He has played for teams like Nottingham Forest, Huddersfield Town, Scunthorpe United, Watford, and Preston North End.

Before joining Wigan, Joe Garner played at Rangers in the Scottish league for a season; he returned to England to play for Ipswich Town and Wigan Athletic.

For Wigan, he had 14 appearances in the 2020-2021 League One season, scoring seven goals and one assist before the club released him on Tuesday.

East Bengal’s first game of their maiden Indian Super League campaign will be against ATK Mohun Bagan on November 27.

Meanwhile, Ten-Man Goa FC lost 1-0 to Mumbai City on Wednesday in the India Super League. The match was heading for a goalless draw when Adam Le Fondre scored in stoppage time.

Redeem Tlang was sent off for the Gaurs just five minutes before half time as last season’s ISL playoffs semi-finalists continue to search for their first win of the season after two games.

Goa and Mumbai City drew and lost their opening games, respectively.

Written by: Daniel Ademiju Idowu