In a bid to bolster their defence ahead of the Kalinga Super Cup 2024 campaign and the all important 2nd half of the Indian Super League 2023-2024 season, NorthEast United FC is set to complete the signing of 26-years-old Moroccan defender Hamza Regragui.
After a pretty lowly 2022-2023 season of the Indian Super League (ISL) where NorthEast United finished bottom of the table having just 5 points in 20 matches having won just a single match against ATK Mohun Bagan (now Mohun Bagan Super Giant), NorthEast United have got off a pretty decent start under new head coach Juan Pedro Benali.
At the halfway mark of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2023-2024 campaign, NorthEast United FC currently sits in 6th place having 12 points in 12 matches, where they have won 2 matches, drawn 6 matches and lost 4 matches. But most importantly, the team has shown considerable improvement under coach Juan Pedro Benali, who has been handed a contract extension, which was a pretty rare case in NorthEast United's history, who have the reputation for sacking head coaches.
Talking about their 2023-2024 ISL campaign, NorthEast United having a pretty average season infront of the goal as he club has scored 13 goals due to a lack of a lethal striker. But on the other hand, the club has also conceded 18 goals and when one team is not scoring a lot of goals, they have make sure they don't concede a lot either.
With the January transfer window now open, NorthEast United FC first of all decided to improve their defence. According a report by IFTWC, the club has reached agreement with former Morocco youth international defender Hamza Regragui to join the club until 2025 to improve their defence.
Hamza Regragui is a 26-years-old Moroccan defender who has spent most of his career in his homeland. Hamza started his career with the Mohammed VI Academy in Morocco and joined Spanish club Malaga on loan in 2015, but spent the season with the reserve team. He was again loaned out to Kénitra AC in 2016, but once again his buy option was not triggered as he failed to establish himself there either.
He then joined RS Berkane on a permanent deal in 2017 and remained with the club for a huge 6 years, which shows his loyalty towards a club. During his tenure there, Hamza Regragui also won the Confederation Cup beating Orlando Pirates FC in 2022 in a penalty shootout.
Regragui then joined Wydad Casablanca in the summer 2023 but finds his place out of the team in the winter. He made a total of 3 appearances in the Moroccan top division where he played only 100 minutes of football before was released by the club.
Other than the above mentioned Confederation Cup, that he has won twice with RS Berkane, he has also won the Morocco Cup 3 times and CAF Super Cup once in 2022 and was runners-up in 2021, all of which he has achieved with RS Berkane.
NorthEast United have two quality defenders in their backline in the form of Michel Zabaco and Yaser Ahmed, the latter of which will not be available for the team in the Super Cup as he will join Palestine for the upcoming AFC Asian Cup 2023.
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