East Bengal Football Club are in talks with FC Barcelona at Bengaluru over a potential partnership between both the clubs, East Bengal Chairman Ajit Isaac has stated. “Senior officials of the Spanish giants, FC Barcelona and Quess East Bengal Football Club team, met to explore the possibility of an association between the two clubs” Ajit Isaac is quoted as saying in East Bengal's official Twitter page.
In the 2018-2019 season, East Bengal closely lost out on the I-League title to Chennai City FC, finishing the season as runners-up.
In recent times, East Bengal manager and former Real Madrid academy coach Alejandro Menendez was handed a two-year contract extension, as the Kolkata based club seeks to recruit more Spanish footballers into their ranks for the forthcoming season in the I-League.
In 2016, East Bengal had been in discussions with Barcelona's arch-rivals Real Madrid for an association at the academy ranks, but those talks eventually fizzled out.
Last month, East Bengal, along with six other I-League clubs decided to pull out of the Super Cup, thus getting show-caused by the All India Football Federation (AIFF).
(With IANS inputs)