Bengaluru FC captain Sunil Chhetri has opened up on the club’s dismaying performances over the last two Hero Indian Super League (ISL) seasons. But the club’s business in the transfer market has got the Blues skipper upbeat ahead of the 2022-23 football campaign.

With English manager Simon Grayson at the helm, the Blues have made headlines in the transfer window, signing big names like striker Roy Krishna, Spanish midfielder Javi Hernandez, central defender Sandesh Jhingan, and fullback Prabir Das amongst others.

“The last two years have hurt. But with guys like Roy, Javi and Sandesh coming in, we have got everything that we wanted. We can’t complain anymore,” Chhetri said in a pre-season media interaction.

BFC will see an energetic and a lethal duo in attack where two of the most prolific forwards will complement their variety of attacking skills and be at the centre of goals. Finishing the Hero ISL 2019-20 season as the joint-highest goalscorer, the Fijian attacker has proved himself as an elite in the Hero ISL after consistently putting up the numbers and also claiming the Golden Ball award, after racking up 14 goals for ATK Mohun Bagan in the 2020-21 campaign.

“In the last three or four years, Roy has been the best number nine alongside Coro (Ferran Corominas of FC Goa). All of us players have to do everything to make him comfortable. If Roy is made comfortable, we know what he can produce. Goal scoring comes naturally to him,” Chhetri stated.

While the reign under former head coach Marco Pezzaiuoli might have been unsettling on and off the pitch for the Blues, the team lacked cohesion and weren’t on the same page with Pezzaiuoli.

“We weren’t in sync. We have to know what the coach wants, so that we can move in that direction. That’s the best way to get results. We missed out on this last year. But it’s not just the mistake of one person. The performances we gave as individuals - the way I missed goals, the way we defended - did not help,” Chhetri said.

“As a team, what hurt was that we started missing that camaraderie inside the dressing room. This was never the case at this club. It really bothered me,” the 38-year-old added.

With new and fresh faces in the team, head coach Grayson has stated that his side will be going to the Durand Cup with their strongest players in a bid to understand on-pitch player profiles, strengths, and limits of his men.

“The Durand Cup games will be a great experience for me to learn not only about our individual players but also to see the other teams. One or two clubs are sending their second team, but we will be going with our strongest squad," said Grayson to Sportskeeda 

Grayson’s first test of his new side will be in their Durand Cup fixture against Jamshedpur FC on Wednesday.