Former Gokulam Kerala head coach Fernando Santiago Valera is also part of the five-member shortlist...
Moroccan Karim Bencherifa and Portuguese Paulo Menezes are part of the shortlisted candidates for the role of head coach at Mohun Bagan, Goal has learnt.

Former Gokulam Kerala head coach Fernando Santiago Valera, Hercules head coach Lluis Planaguma and CD Castellon coach Oscar Cano complete the list.

Earlier today, the Kolkata-based I-League club has announced their decision to appoint a foreign head coach next season who will succeed Khalid Jamil.

Editors' Picks
No surrender! Defiant Liverpool lose Salah but refuse to stop fighting for title
Dembele injured again! Can Barcelona really rely on fragile French winger?
From Pogba to Bale, Hazard to Eriksen: The top 50 summer transfer targets of 2019
The final piece of the jigsaw? Barca humbling shows Liverpool need to sign another forward this summer


Out of the five shortlisted candidates, Karim Bencherifa, Paulo Menezes and Fernando Valera have already worked in Indian football. Bencherifa worked in India for nine years from 2006 to 2015. The 51-year-old coach had two stints at Mohun Bahan and have also coached Salgaocar, Churchill Brothers and Pune FC.

Paulo Menezes spent the 2017-18 season in India with I-League side Aizawl FC. The then-defending champions ended the league in the fifth place, lost the AFC Champions League playoffs and finished bottom of their group in the 2018 AFC Cup group stage. Menezes was replaced by Santosh Kashyap in February.


Fernando Valera's stint at Gokulam Kerala started with a win in the Kerala Premier League but the coach was sacked during pre-season and Keralite Bino George was reinstated as the head coach for the 2018-19 season.

Spaniards Lluis Planaguma and Oscar Cano both ply their trade in Segunda Division B Group Three, the third tier of professional football in Spain.

After coaching the reserve teams of Espanyol, Villarreal and Granada, 38-year-old Planaguma headed UCAM Murcia in 2017 before being appointed head coach at Hercules a year later.

Having coached Granada and reserve teams of Elche and Betis, 46-year-old Oscar Cano took charge of Castellon last summer.