Bhaichung Bhutia at a health clinic in Howrah on Tuesday. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

Calcutta: Bhaichung Bhutia’s hopes of plying his trade abroad once more are very much alive.

Negotiations with a club in Cyprus are on and if things go according to his plan, Bhutia may appear in an impromptu trial for the club during East Bengal’s upcoming tour of England.

The India captain said on Tuesday the club he is in talks with will be in Belgium on a pre-season trip around the time of East Bengal’s participation in the Leicester City 120th anniversary tournament.

“This means I can’t go to Cyprus for trials right now. I have asked them to send their chief coach or a member of the coaching team to be in England and watch our matches on July 31 and August 1. After that, I may travel to Cyprus for further trials if they want,” Bhutia said.

“Most probably the chief coach will come to England and I am trying to get a visa for Cyprus for the period after the England trip,” Bhutia told The Telegraph later.

The star striker couldn’t recall the name of the club, but informed it had finished fourth in the Cypriot league last season. Cyprus are 104th in the Fifa rankings and India 143rd.

Bhutia admitted the Leicester City meet becomes all the more important after the recent developments because it becomes some sort a trial for him to impress the Cyprus team.

“It becomes important for East Bengal too as we can treat this tournament as a chance to play against better players and in better conditions. It is a good chance for East Bengal to prepare for the rest of the season.”

If Bhutia does make it to Cyprus, it will be his third stint with a foreign club, after Bury FC in England and Perak FC in Malaysia.

Bhutia was speaking after attending a function at Howrah’s The Apollo Clinic, which has decided to offer free medical check-ups for five promising footballers for a year.

The players — Sanjib Mishra, Shantanu Ghosh, Ashok Das, Goutam Mondal and Raju Pal — were picked by the IFA and are all residents of the Howrah region. The clinic intends to make it an annual affair and pick a new lot each year.