India football captain Sunil Chhetri has picked Manvir Singh, who scored India’s first goal in their 3-1 win over Maldives at the ongoing SAFF Championships on Wednesday, as his possible successor in goal scoring.

“I am banking on Manvir when I am done. He is a beast, a machine. In every training tests we have, he will be in the top three. The problem is he plays at the right side for ATK Mohun Bagan in ISL but as No. 9 in the national team. He is young and so he is unable to adapt (from one position to other) and so at times he is off. He will learn with experience. He is our weapon.”

The 37-year-old overtook the legendary Pele when he scored India’s second goal against Maldives and then added one more to log his 79th international strike.

Asked about him overtaking the great Brazilian, Chhetri said: “Everybody who knows football knows that there is no comparison whatsoever (with Pele). I am happy to keep playing and scoring for my country. That is all I want.”

“There are very few footages of the great man (Pele) but from whatever I can see, he was a dynamic and powerful footballer. Football was different those days. The game was brutal at times. Despite that, he scored so many goals and that speaks of his extremely great achievement.”