KOLKATA: Jamie Maclaren is no stranger to success. A four-time Golden Boot winner and all-time leading scorer in A-League's history, he's been instrumental in
Melbourne City's recent reign in Australian football.
And determined to bring the same winning mentality to Mohun Bagan Super Giant, the new destination of his career, the 31-year-old is hungry for more.
"I am hungrier now as I had been five years ago," Maclaren told reporters here on Tuesday.
"I want to win trophies at Mohun Bagan. This club has the standard to win trophies and compete… I'm coming into a team that is already successful. I'm just a small piece in the big puzzle and can't wait to start our season," said the Australian striker, flanked by the team's principal owner Sanjiv Goenka and new coach Jose Molina.
The arrival of Maclaren - who will wear jersey No. 29 - means Mohun Bagan will now unleash a three-pronged all-Australian attacking line, given that they have already had two other Socceroos World Cuppers in Jason Cummings and Dimitri Petratos. The duo's presence in the team has also influenced the newcomer's decision to take plunge into Indian football.
"I have got a few friends who play for this club. I am really excited to link up with them. I played with Dimi Petratos for two years at Brisbane. Have played with Cummings at the national team. Tom Aldred I played against him. As a striker, if you are going to play attacking football, then chances will come your way. that leads to win, and that leads to trophies.
"We are all going to work together every single day to create chances and score goals. Whether it's myself, Jason or Dimi or other teammates, we want to entertain. In the end there are a lot of cups, a lot of trophies to play for," Maclaren - who has been registered for the ongoing Durand Cup - pointed out.
Molina stresses on aggressive football:
Molina has been there and done that in Indian football, having managed ATK to the ISL title in 2016. However, it will be a different challenge for the Spanish coach.
"It's my life (as a coach) to live with pressure. Pressure is not a problem for me. I'm happy to be here again and we are going to work very hard to repeat the title (of 2016)," Molina said.
Molina further said that attacking football would be part of his philosophy. "The club has prepared a good squad for us. We want to be aggressive when we have the ball. We want to be a team which dominates the game," he said.
With Bagan set to play in the group stage of AFC Champions League 2, conquering Asia would also be the team's mantra.
"The reason for getting higher caliber players is because we want to perform better internationally. That is the aspiration," Goenka remarked.