Hero Indian Super League side NorthEast United FC have confirmed the signing of Brazilian defender Mailson Alves from Chennaiyin FC on Tuesday. The 28-year-old centre-back, who was an integral part of Chennaiyin FC’s winning outfit last season, becomes the latest acquisition for the Highlanders.The former Super Machans defender follows in the footsteps of Jerry Mawihmingthanga, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Nirmal Chettri, Rowllin Borges, Subrata Paul, Sumit Passi and Yusa Katsumi, who all have pledged their future to NorthEast in recent weeks. The addition of Alves to NorthEast United FC is certain to shore up their defence, which conceded 23 goals in 14 matches last season.Having established himself as an important player last season, the experienced defender is expected to add defensive stability as well as a winning mentality to the Highlanders, who narrowly missed out on the semi-finals in ISL 2015. Alves completed 33 tackles, 30 headers and nine interceptions for Chennaiyin FC en-route to the prestigious Hero ISL trophy last year.
