Team India football captain and pride of Sikkim Sunil Chhetri on Tuesday signed a three-year contract with sports accessories giant Puma.
In an official statement, Chhetri had said, “I am excited to join the PUMA family. Over the years, I have closely witnessed and experienced the brand’s football heritage. Now signing with them as a PUMA player is a very natural progression for me.”
The Bengaluru FC skipper is currently the second-highest goal-scorer in international football after Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo.
“We share a common goal to accelerate the growth of football in the country,” he added.
“I appreciate their commitment to the sporting ecosystem and look forward to creating a new chapter for Indian football,” he asserted.
By signing with Puma, Chhetri has now joined the list of global players like France’s Antoine Griezmann, Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku, Uruguay’s Luis Suarez and Argentina’s Sergio Aguero among others.
Chhetri is the most-capped Indian player and is also the all-time top goal scorer for the Indian team.
He has been named as the AIFF Player of the Year six times.
He was also conferred with the Arjuna award in 2011 and Padma Shri in 2019.
In the past, the brand has teamed up with sports persons like Virat Kohli, MC Mary Kom and Dutee Chand, and footballers like Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Dheeraj Singh Moirangthe, Nishu Kumar and Rahul Bheke.