Mumbai City FC defender Davinder Singh has suffered an injury to his anterior cruciate ligament and will miss the remainder of the season. The 23-year old will undergo surgery on his knee later this month and will continue his rehabilitation with the club.
The young defender signed for The Islanders last season and was handed his debut in an away fixture against Kerala Blasters. He went on to make a total of 8 league appearances in the 2017-18 season and showed incredible promise, following which he signed a two-year extension to his contract with the club.
All of us at Mumbai City FC wish Davinder a swift recovery and hope that he returns to the football pitch soon, doing what he does best.
The Islanders, meanwhile, have brought in 27-year old defender Joyner Lourenco who joins The Islanders until the end of the season. The Goan full back, who will wear the #14 shirt for the Islanders, will replace Davinder in Mumbai City FC's squad for the 2018-19 season of the Hero ISL.
Joyner began his footballing career barely into his teens when he signed for his local club, Goa Velha and went on to play for the u-15, u-16 and the u-19 sides of Dempo FC.
Taking the next step in his career, Joyner switched sides and joined Sporting Clube de Goa as a 19 year old in 2010. Making an immediate impact, his side won the u-19 I League in his first year at the club – a tournament in which he went out in the semifinals previously with Dempo.
Joyner went on to play for Sporting for a total of seven seasons, and finished as a runner-up in the 2013-14 Federation Cup. His strong performances for Sporting earned him a call up to the Indian u-23 National Team for the 2014 Asian Games in the final 20-man squad. He went on to make two appearances in the tournament wearing the Blue of India.
Following his stint with Sporting, Joyner was picked by fellow ISL side Bengaluru FC in the 2017 ISL Draft. He represented them four times in their AFC Cup campaign, finished as the runner-up of the ISL and won the Hero Super Cup.
The Islanders will play their third game of the 2018-19 Hero Indian Super League, the Maharashtra Derby, on October 19 against rivals FC Pune City at the Mumbai Football Arena.
