Bhaichung at the SAI, Eastern Centre, on Thursday. Picture by Santosh Ghosh

Calcutta: Bhaichung Bhutia, grieved by and peeved at East Bengal’s “nonchalant attitude” towards entering into a fresh contract, is set to again ply his trade on a foreign land. And if everything falls in place, he will start playing for a Malaysian outfit as early as next week.

Bhaichung’s relationship with East Bengal took a dramatic nosedive on Wednesday night soon after his meeting with the club officials.

East Bengal cleared his pending dues and the meeting ended with the club telling him that the ball was now in his court and he has to come up with a request for a new contract.

It was insulting to Bhaichung and by the time he reached home from the club tent, he had made up his mind: It’s going to be another stint in Malaysia.

“It was a decision taken on the spur of the moment,” Bhaichung told The Telegraph on Thursday. “Honestly speaking, I had no intention of leaving Calcutta at the start of the season. But they (East Bengal officials) treated me shabbily, kept me waiting, didn’t show any interest? I was immensely hurt by all this,” he added.

He pointed out that a few clubs from Malaysia have shown interest in him. Perak FC, where he had a short stint during 2003-04 season while playing for East Bengal, is one of the clubs in the running to sign him.

“I hope the deal (with the Malaysian club) will be over by Saturday,” Bhaichung said. “The Malaysian league is over. So I’ll be basically play in the Malaysian Cup. After that (in October) I have plans to come back and play here,” he maintained.

Will he then play for East Bengal? “I earn by playing football, so I’m ready to play anywhere if I find it suitable ? be it East Bengal, Mohun Bagan or Mahindra United,” Bhaichung replied.

He, however, denied that Jose Ramirez Barreto had any role in his move to Malaysia. “I don’t have his number and so, the question of talking to him about this decision doesn’t arise,” he pointed out.

He, however, said that on reaching Malaysia, he would call up Barreto, who is now playing for Penang FC.

In the face of the emerging development, East Bengal, however, have taken a moderate stand.

Coach Subhas Bhowmick said nobody is above the club. “You can be Subhas Bhowmick, I. M. Vijayan or Bhaichung? but in the end, nobody is above the institution,” he commented.

A club official, Debabrata Sarkar hoped Bhaichung would inform the club before leaving for Malaysia.

“It’s Bhaichung’s decision (to go to Malaysia) and he has certainly found it to be an option worth trying. He is a product of East Bengal. The club has been benefitted by him and vice versa. So we can only hope he’ll inform us before leaving,” he maintained.

He also made it clear that the club would have no reservations about exploring opportunities of signing him once he returned from Malaysia.