Bhubaneswar: Odisha FC has announced that Denechandra Meitei has joined the club on a season-long loan from Kerala Blasters.
Yendrembam Denechandra Meitei was born in Manipur, Meitei started playing football at the age of 10 years. He initially trained at a local stadium to improve his technical ability. Then Meitei eventually managed to make it into his district team and then the Manipur football team in the youth nationals.
Then in 2008, he signed with Mohun Bagan A.C. to join their academy. A year later, Meitei joined the Sambhalpur Academy in Odisha.
After going back to Manipur, Meitei got recommended for a trial at Pune FC. Denechandra got selected for the academy. While with the Pune F.C. Academy, he won the I-League U19 twice.
On 5 August 2020, Meitei joined Kerala Blasters from TRAU FC. He made his first appearance for the club against Chennaiyin FC. After a year, Meitei signed a new three-year contract with Kerala Blasters, keeping him at the club until 2024.
Meitei was included in the Kerala Blasters squad for last year’s Durand Cup and played his first match against Bengaluru FC. He played his first match of the Indian Super League 2021–22 season as a substitute for Nishu Kumar against BFC.
Denechandra has represented India at the U23 level where he played for the Blue Tigers in a tournament held in Bangladesh.
The versatile defender, who can also fill in at a defensive midfield position will add more strength & depth to the OFC backline for the upcoming season.