Footballer Manisha Kalyan joins Cypriot champions Apollon Ladies

The 20-year-old from Punjab signed a two-year deal with the Cypriot First Division champions Apollon, her former club Gokulam Kerala FC confirmed on Sunday. TOI had reported on June 15 that Manisha was close to concluding a deal that will see her play in the Mediterranean nation. The attacker had also attracted interest from Australia, the United States and other European clubs. Apollon who are based in Limassol, the capital of the island nation, were the winners of the 2020-21 Cypriot top division giving them a place in the qualifying rounds of the 2022-23 Women's Champions League.

They are set to face Latvian outfit Rigas FS on August 18 in a single-legged tie in the first round of qualifying for the Champions League. The winners of that tie will then face the winners of the tie between Faroe Islands' Klaksvikar Itrottarfelag and Switzerland's FC Zurich for a place in the group stages. The young attacker will become the fourth Indian footballer to win a professional contract at a foreign club. She had also become the first Indian to score against a senior Brazil national team last year. Dangmei Grace, Manisha's former teammate at Gokulam, had confirmed a move to Uzbekistan's FC Nasaf on Saturday. Manisha joined Gokulam in 2018 after a short stint with Sethu FC, Madurai and represented the Kerala club in three editions of the Indian Women's League. She had scored 14 goals from 11 IWL matches and was named the player of the tournament as Gokulam won back-to-back IWL titles. However, her contract with the Malabarians ended following the league win in May.