India U22 keeper Gurpeet Singh Sandhu arrived in England on Wednesday for a training-cum-trial with EPL side Wigan Athletic. Gurpreet had a few great days in England and he enjoyed the training stint with the Premiership side.

The 20-year-old keeper had his first training session on Thursday morning at 9 o’clock. Gurpreet was welcomed by the Wigan coaching staff and Omani international Ali Al-Habsi who happens to be the keeper for the English side.

“It was a good and intensive training session in the morning. It was great to meet the players in a very friendly environment,” Gurpeet told from England. “Training at Premier League standards was an amazing feeling. I learned a lot on the first day!”

The tall Indian youngster had two sessions on Friday and he felt the difference of standards. “I had one of the most toughest and amazing training sessions ever. Very high intensity and a good pitch. Great quality. Totally worth it. Thank you for this opportunity! Great work with goalkeeping coach Inaki and my mates Mike and Ali Al-Habsi,” said Gurpreet.

The East Bengal keeper told he thinks the training sessions at Wigan were “very unique and hard training”. The training-cum-trial was arranged by former English goalkeeper and Ten Sports expert John “Budgie” Burridge. The Englishman has been instrumental in pushing forward the career of Oman national team keeper Ali Abdullah Harib Al-Habsi, popularly known as Ali Al-Habsi, a few years ago and Burridge utilized his contacts with the EPL to help Gurpreet in his aim to learn in Europe.

Gurpreet will be having a day off on Sunday as the senior team will leave for a pre-season camp in Austria. The Indian youngster will fly back to India tomorrow.

Please LIKE www.facebook.com/cpd81 to get further exclusive updates on the “Indian Summer in Europe” with Sunil Chhetri, Subrata Pal, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and company in the weeks and months to come!