Borja, Iker set to stay with FC Goa for another year

Panaji: FC Goa have started building their squad for next season with Borja Herrera and Iker Guarrotxena among the two foreign players the club is set to retain.
Borja and Guarrotxena were out of contracts at the end of last season.
The two Spanish players impressed the club with their performances all through the season and have now been rewarded with contract extensions.
“Goa have agreed deals with both Borja and Iker,” a source told TOI on Tuesday. “There was some hesitancy due to the prevalent situation in Indian football, but regardless of the uncertainty surrounding the Indian Super League (ISL), these two players were always going to be a part of the squad. They know the club, the league and the conditions in India. It wasn’t a difficult decision.”
Borja and Guarrotxena were important members of Manolo Marquez’s squad last season. Besides striker Armando Sadiku in the early stages of the league, the coach relied heavily on the two players to get the goals, both in the ISL and Super Cup, which Goa won to qualify for continental championships for the first time since 2020.
Borja had six goals and four assists in the ISL last season with his hat-trick against his former club, East Bengal, the highlight. He started in 16 of the 22 games that he featured in the league.
The Spanish midfielder’s big goal contribution though came in the Super Cup when his brilliant brace slayed Jamshedpur FC in the final. Borja also had a significant role to play in Goa’s Bandodkar Memorial Trophy triumph earlier in the season.
Nursing a long-term injury, Guarrotxena missed the early part of the season but his importance to Goa cannot be understated. Just like Borja, he had 10-goal contributions in the ISL, scoring seven.
The Spaniard – now into his second stint at the club – made 21 appearances overall and accumulated 1,411 minutes of playing time.
This season’s ISL was expected to kick off on Sept 14, as per the calendar approved by the AIFF League Committee last month. However, there is now growing suspense over the future of the league after several club owners were told by FSDL that the league will not kick off, unless there’s clarity on the Master Rights Agreement (MRA).
FSDL, a joint venture between Reliance and Star which runs the league, are commercial partners of AIFF, with whom they signed a 15-year MRA in 2010. The agreement ends in December this year.
Several meetings have been held between FSDL and AIFF over renewal of the agreement. Rather than an all-cash deal that gave the marketing partners rights to all federation properties, they have now suggested formation of a new holding company that governs, operates, commercialises and funds ISL, with clubs (60%, equal across all clubs), FSDL (26%) and AIFF (14%) as the shareholders.