Varin Mehta has been offered a season-long contract by Belgian football club Royal Antwerp FC, a rare honour for an Indian football player. Only three other Indians have been offered contracts by foreign clubs before this -- Mohammad Salim (Celtic in 1937), Bhaichung Bhutia (Bury FC 1999-2002) and Sunil Chhetri (Kansas City Wizards 2010-11), according to a report in the Mumbai Mirror.

21-year old Varin, the son of Gira and Girish Pravinchandra Mehta, has played football since a young age, representing Cathedral & John Connon School, where he was a member of the team (as well as the top scorer) that won the Inter-School championships in 2004. He also played for the district and state teams in the inter-district, inter state and national championships. In Mumbai he represented Kenkre Club and Mahindra United U-19, being the 2nd highest goal scorer for MU in the 2008-09 season.

However after Mahindra closed down its football team a couple of years ago, Varin began exploring opportunities overseas. Since his family was in the diamond business, Varin managed to get a trial offer from the Royal Antwerp FC, one of the oldest and most popular clubs in Belgium and a sister-concern of English giants Manchester United.

The Mumbai Mirror reports that this was also not easy. Belgian rules required the club to pay a certain sum of money to hire a foreign player, so the Mehtas had to search for a sponsor, and after some difficulty managed to get sponsorship from Reliance Industries (RIL).

Following a prolonged evaluation of Varin’s commitment and talent, the club has now formalized the contract. “It would be like a dream come true,” Varin told Mumbai Mirror. “My hard work from past one year has finally paid off.”

The newspaper also reports that Varin would often be asked, “Son, are you an Indian? What are you doing playing football, you should be playing cricket.”

He also faced challenges of acclimatization. “From the mid-30’s in Mumbai to -5 degrees in Antwerp, I was determined to face anything that came my way.”

Varin was aided by the presence of his mother Gira, who moved to Antwerp along with him. “Getting a visa for her was difficult, so she decided to study her Masters and that’s how she is with me. She made lot of sacrifices. She took care of my food and made sure that I didn’t suffer. I owe a lot to her,” he said.

Varin is not one to rest on his laurels. “My first goal is to cement a place in this team and make my mark in European football. I want to take it step by step and play for better clubs and eventually an EPL club,” he said. “I also want to wear national colours; that would be my ultimate achievement.”