EXCLUSIVE: Simon Grayson has dealt with all sorts of situations, but dropping a player with a goal record rivalling Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi was one of his most difficult decisions

Former Leeds United boss Simon Grayson admitted dropping India captain Sunil Chhetri was one of the hardest decisions of his whole career.

Grayson, 54, is currently looking for his next managerial role having spent a whole year at Indian Super League giants Bengaluru FC. The experienced boss moved across the world to take up the reins at the club, having been dismissed by Sunderland during the Black Cats’ iconic Netflix series.

The country of 1.417billion people is not known for boasting a conveyer belt of top footballers. Grayson managed Chhetri, who was, at the time, the fourth-highest goal scorer in international football. Considering only Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ali Daei had outscored the India captain, Grayson knew dropping him would be a huge risk. The Three Lions are among the favourites to win this summer’s Euro 2024 tournament and you can get your hands on the brand new Nike home and away kits before the first whistle.

While speaking in an exclusive interview with Daily Star Sport, on behalf of sevenjackpots.com, Grayson said: “One of the biggest and hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make in my whole career as a manager was dropping the international captain, Sunil Chhetri. At 38, he is the icon of Indian football. Not a lot of people will know he was the fourth leading goal scorer in world football behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Ali Daei on 92 international goals.

“It was a big thing to drop him, because I felt it was the right thing for the team. Obviously he wasn’t too happy about it, but he accepted it and it was about the team. That’s when we went on a run of 12 victories in a row.”

Chhetri is one of the biggest stars in India sporting history. He also boasts 7.5m followers on Instagram, a huge number for a player not greatly known outside of India and Asia.

“He was just this icon. We would travel on flights every day and you’d be at the airport, in the city streets and he would just be mobbed everywhere he went,” Grayson said, providing an insight into Chhetri’s level of popularity.

“That was the level you’re dealing with to put it in context. But when I said to the owner, ‘I’m thinking of dropping him’, he went, ‘Look, you’re the manager. You make the decision what you think is right for the football club’.

“But I think Sunhill would probably be the first to admit that he probably wasn’t playing as well as he could do. He wasn’t scoring the goals that he’d been used to doing, and he accepted it and he was very respectful of it. He obviously wasn’t pleased and why should he be?

“That’s just part of football. It’s like Harry Kane playing back in England and getting dropped by his club and he’s the captain of England.” As well as being the goalscorer and most experienced player in the squad, Chhetri’s influence extended past the pitch and into the dugout.