Vibin Mohanan (born 6 February 2003) is an Indian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

club Kerala Blasters.

Club career

Kerala Blasters

Youth and early career

When he was nine, Vibin joined the Kerala Police Football Academy in 2012 where he was trained under

I.M. Vijayan Inivalappil Mani Vijayan (born 25 April 1969), also known by the nickname Kalo Harin (Blackbuck), is a former professional football player who also captained the India national football team. He played as a striker, where he formed a successf ...

. In 2017, Vibin was selected into the Kerala Blasters U-15 team where he played for the side in the Hero Junior League. In November 2020, he was loaned to

Indian Arrows Indian Arrows (formerly known as Pailan Arrows) was an Indian developmental football club that competed in the I-League. The club was formed by the All India Football Federation in 2010, with a main goal of nurturing young Indian football talen ...

, an

All India Football Federation The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is the national governing body of football in India. It is a member of FIFA, the international governing body of football and affiliated to Asian Football Confederation. It is affiliated to Ministry o ...

-owned team that would consist of India under-20 players to give them playing time. He also captained the team during the loan stint. Vibin made his first professional appearance for Indian Arrows on 10 January 2021 against

Churchill Brothers Churchill Brothers FC Goa, or simply known as Churchill Brothers, is an Indian professional football club based in Margao, Goa, that competes in the I-League, alongside Goa Professional League. Founded in 1988 in Margao, the club usually part ...

by coming as a substitute on second half. He scored his first goal for the Arrows on 2 April 2022 against Real Kashmir.

2022–2023: Rise to the first team

After spending two seasons on loan with Indian Arrows, Vibin returned to the Blasters. In August 2022, with the first team preparing for the

2022–23 Indian Super League season The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, Kerala Blasters fielded their reserves for the

2022 Durand Cup The 2022 Durand Cup, also known as IndianOil Durand Cup due to sponsorship ties with Indian Oil Corporation, was the 131st edition of Durand Cup, the oldest football tournament in Asia, and also the first edition since it was recognised by the ...

, where Vibin was also included in the squad for the tournament. He made his debut for the side on 19 August 2022 against Sudeva Delhi FC which ended in a draw. He made five appearances for the side and provided one assist during the tournament. In October 2022, Vibin got promoted into the senior team after he was included in the Blasters squad for the

. He made his first team debut for the Blasters when he came on in the 84th minute during a 4–0 loss against Mumbai City on 8 January 2023. Vibin was included in the Blasters' starting eleven for the first time against

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

on 26 February, which the Blasters lost 1–0, where he played for the entire 90 minutes. In July 2023, the club sent Vibin to Greece for a one-month training stint with the Greek First Division club

OFI Crete OFI may refer to: * Overseas Filipino Investors, Filipino expatriates who contribute to the economy of the Philippines through remittances, buying property, and creating businesses * OFI Crete, a Greek association football club based on the island ...

2023–present

On 18 August 2023, Vibin provided his first ever assist for the senior team during the

2023 Durand cup The 2023 Durand Cup (also known as IndianOil Durand Cup due to sponsorship ties with the Indian Oil Corporation) was the 132nd edition of Durand Cup, the oldest football tournament in Asia, and the second edition since it was supported by the A ...

group stage in a match against Bengaluru FC reserves, which ended in 2–2 draw. In the next match against

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) is the air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its complement of personnel and aircraft assets ranks third amongst the air forces of the world. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial w ...

on 21 August, he provided two assists, helping the Blasters in a 5–0 victory. Vibin played his first match of the 2023–24 Indian Super League season on 9 September against Bengaluru FC by coming as a substitute in the injury time. In the absence of Jeakson Singh, who suffered a shoulder injury in October, Vibin cemented his place in the team. In December 2023, Vibin was awarded the Indian Super League's Emerging Player of the Month for November. He executed 112 successful passes, maintaining an 84.9% success rate, including 18 successful long passes, the second-highest among outfield players during this period. Vibin also won possession 25 times, more than any other player in November, and triumphed in 13 duels. He sustained an injury during the Blasters' home win against

Mumbai City FC Mumbai City Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Mumbai, Maharashtra that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded in August 2014, during the inaugural season of ...

on 24 December. He came back to action on 24 February 2024 against FC Goa in a 4–0 victory. Vibin scored his first goal for the Blasters on 13 March against Mohun Bagan SG in a 3–4 loss at home.

International career

Youth team

In June 2022, Vibin was included in the final 23-member squad of the Indian under-20 national team to participate in the

2022 SAFF U-20 Championship The 2022 SAFF U-20 Championship was the 4th edition of the SAFF U-20 Championship, an international football competition for men's under-18 national teams organized by South Asian Football Federation (SAFF). India was the hosts of the tournament ...

. He made his debut for the side on 27 July in a 2–0 loss against

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. He made four appearances in the tournament and helped his side to win the title for the fourth time in its history. In September 2023, Vibin was included in the squad of the Indian under-23 national team to participate in the

2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification The 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualification was an international men's under-23 football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup. A total of 16 teams qualified to play in the final tournament, including Q ...

. He made his debut against

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

on 9 September 2023 in a 2–1 loss.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

India U20 * SAFF U-20 Championship:

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Individual *

Emerging Player of the Month: November 2023

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohanan, Vibin 2003 births Living people Indian men's footballers Footballers from Thrissur India men's youth international footballers Indian Arrows players I-League players Men's association football midfielders Kerala Blasters FC Reserves and Academy players I-League 2 players Indian Super League players