Chennaiyin FC: Here's what you need to know about Enes Sipovic

Chennaiyin FC's foreign contingent has an intriguing look about it. After reaching the final in the last Indian Super League (ISL) season, they have retained only two of their foreign players from that squad. 

One of those players is centre-back Eli Sabia. While the big burly Brazilian forged a partnership with Lucian Goian last season, he will be paired with Enes Sipovic this time around. 

Standing tall at 6'6", Sipovic is an imposing presence at the back and is very strong aerially. Given the fact that Sabia is also 6'2" tall, Chennaiyin's defence will have the aerial advantage over the opposition forwards. 

Jersey Number: 5

Professional debut in Romania

Sipovic might be the first Bosnian to play in the ISL but he made his senior debut for Romanian giants Otelul Galati. After progressing through the youth ranks at Bosnian club Zeljeznicar, he moved to Otelul Galati in 2009 in search of first-team football. 

He made his professional debut in April 2010 in a league game against Gloria Bistrita, playing the entire 90 minutes. However, that would be the only appearance he would make in that season and the next season. As a result, he was sent out on loans to Romanian second-tier outfits Petrolul and Farul Constanta in the 2011-12 season. 

He came back to Otelul at the start of the 2012-13 season and played a bit-part role for two-and-a-half seasons before leaving the club on a free transfer in January 2015 - a season where Otelul were relegated to the second tier. 

He joined Belgian outfit Waterlo but spent just six months there before leaving on another free transfer to Moroccan outfit Tanger. He made around 60 appearances for Tanger in two seasons before moving to another Moroccan outfit in Berkane ahead of the 2017-18 season. 

He did not stick around for long at Berkane, leaving for Saudi Arabian outfit Ohod after a season. Sipovic ended up moving back to his childhood club Zeljeznicar in January 2019. But that reunion lasted only a year and he joined Qatar's Umm Salal SC in February 2020. 

Sipovic spent another six months in Qatar before joining Chennaiyin. 

International football

Sipovic has never represented his country at the senior level but has played for Bosnia and Herzegovina's U21 team during his formative years. 

He did represent the U21 side in the UEFA U21 Championship qualifiers. In one memorable match, he featured as Bosnia U21 played out a 4-4 draw against Germany U21 side which featured the likes of current Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno. 

Last stint

His last stint was in Qatar with Umm Salal SC where he made 11 appearances in the Qatar Stars League (QSL), all of them starts.