Deependra Singh Negi

Deependra Singh Negi (दीपेंद्र सिंह नेगी) (born 20 November 1998) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Kerala Blasters in the Indian Super League (ISL). Born in Uttarakhand, Negi has been the India under-17 national team captain and has been part of the India team that won the U-16 SAFF Championship in Kathmandu, Nepal on July 30, 2013.

Early Career

Negi was selected for the Kolkata based AIFF Elite Academy in tryouts held in Dehradun in 2012. After learning the nuances of the game at the AIFF Elite Academy, he made the place in the Indian team in 2014. ^[1] Negi has played in domestic competitions like ONGC, Subroto Cup. ^[2] He was also captain of the AIFF team that won the Subroto Cup in 2015.

International Career

Negi has represented the India under-17 and under 20 side. He was a former India under-17 national team captain. He has represented India in the SAFF championship in Nepal where the Indian team defeated Nepal 1-0 in the final played at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu. Negi has also participated in the AFC Cup qualifiers held in Kuwait. ^[3]

Club Career

In 2016, at the age of 17, Deependra Singh Negi moved to Spain after signing professional terms with Spanish Club CF Reus. Club de Futbol Reus Deportiu, better known as just Reus, participates in the Spanish Segunda Division, the second tier of the football pyramid in Spain. The team plays all its matches at the 4,700 seater Estadi Municipal, in the autonomous region of Reus, Catalonia. Prior to this, Negi joined the Catalonians' U19 team for practice sessions. Negi was the second Indian youngster to move to Spain in order to earn a contract after defender Avneet Bharti shifted base to the Europaan country earlier.^[4][5]

Negi was selected to play for the Kerala Blasters, an Indian Super League team in 2017.^[6] His contract with Kerala Blasters started from Dec 9, 2017 and runs till May 30, 2020. Negi made his professional debut for the side in 2017-18 Indian Super League Season against Delhi Dynomos. In his debut game, he started playing from second half and played until end of the match as Kerlas Blasters won 2–1. Negi became Hero of the match in his debut match by scoring his first goal in just second minute of his playing time^[7] and became second youngest footballer in the league to score a goal.

Career statistics

As of 28 January 2018

Personal Life

Deependra Singh Negi belongs to a village in the Indian Himalayas named Tungdhaundha (तुंगढौंढ़ा) in Pauri district of Garhwal in Uttarakhand, a state in the northern part of India. He spent his early life in rural Uttarakhand. He says that since childhood, he had immense interest in football and it was his dream to make his career in football. Negi started playing amateur football with friends in the streets of Seema Dwar in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. He credits his maternal uncle, Navindra Bisht who is also a keen football player, for igniting his interest in football and for taking him from place to place in pursuit of football training. ^{[2] [8]} His father Dheerendra Singh Negi lives in Pauri, Garhwal, Uttarakhand. ^[1]

Negi idolizes Zinedine Zidane, Neymar and Phillipe Coutinho. He has a desire of watching Zidane's training from the stands. His favourite team is FC Barcelona. ^{[9] [8]}

References