Gyamar Nikum (born 26 October 2004) is an Indian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

club Mumbai City. He is one of the youngest players and first from

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...

in history to be selected and debut in the I-League Qualifiers, at an age of 16 years and 359 days.

Club career

Youth career

Hailing from the town of

Naharlagun Naharlagun is a town situated in the foothills of the Himalayas in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. It falls in and is administered as a part of Itanagar Capital Complex. Geography It is at an altitude of from sea level. Surrounded by ...

Papum Pare Papum Pare district (Pron:/ˌpæpəm ˈpæɹɪ, ˈpɑ:ɹeɪ/) is an administrative district in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in India. As of 2011, it is the most populous district of Arunachal Pradesh (out of Districts of Arunachal Pradesh, 20) ...

district, Nikum started playing football at the tender age of 8. By the age of 14, he had played in the U15 sub-junior national championships for

. On 2019, Nikum achieved a career milestone when he was selected for the

team to play in the U18 BC Roy Trophy, where they made it to the semi-finals. It was in that tournament where the

was scouted by Rajasthan United and offered a chance to be a part of their residential academy in

Bhilwara Bhilwara () is a city and administrative headquarters in Bhilwara district of the Mewar region of Rajasthan, India. It has been termed as 'Textile city'. History Stone Age tools dating from 5,012 to 200,000 years were found in Bundi and ...

. After impressing then coach Vikrant Sharma, he was fast tracked to the first-team squad.

Rajasthan United

On 20 October 2021, Nikum became one of the youngest players and first from

in history to be selected and debut in the I-League Qualifiers, when he appeared against Madan Maharaj, at an age of 16 years and 359 days. Nikum had a breakout 2021–22 season, where he appeared in fourteen of their eighteen games as Rajasthan United had a memorable debut season in the

I-League The I-League is the men's second professional football division of the Indian football league system behind the Indian Super League. Administered by the All India Football Federation, it is currently contested by 13 clubs. It operates as a s ...

, finishing in the top 7 of Phase 1 and qualifying for the

Championship stage In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this syst ...

. In July 2022, Nikum signed a new four-year contract extension with Rajasthan United. On 20 August, he scored his first and the winning goal for the club in a shock 3–2 win over

ATK Mohun Bagan Mohun Bagan Super Giant, commonly referred to as Mohun Bagan, is an Indian professional football club based in Kolkata, West Bengal. Founded in 1889, it is one of the oldest football clubs in Asia. The club competes in the Indian Super League, ...

, in the

Durand Cup The Durand Cup (also called the IndianOil Durand Cup Powered by Coal India Limited for sponsorship reasons) is an annual domestic football competition in India which was first held in 1888 in Annadale, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. Hosted by the ...

Mumbai City

On 22 January 2023, 18 year-old Nikum joined Mumbai City for a reported transfer fee of ₹6–7.5 million on a four-and-a-half-year contract, with an option to extend further. The transfer fee is a record for a player of his age.

Inter Kashi (loan)

On 3 September 2023,

club

Inter Kashi Inter Kashi Football Club, commonly referred to as Inter Kashi (इंटर काशी), is an Indian professional football club based in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The club currently competes in the I-League, the second tier league of the In ...

announced the signing of Nikum on a one-year loan deal, until the end of the 2023-24 I-League season. Following a season of 22 appearances, four goals, and four assists, Nikum was adjudged to be the Best Emerging Player of the season.

International career

In June 2022, Nikum got called up by the

AIFF AIFF may refer to: * Audio Interchange File Format * All India Football Federation, the national governing body of Association football in India Film festivals * Addis International Film Festival, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia * Alexandria Internation ...

for the India U20 training camp in

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar () is the capital and the largest city of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Odisha. It is located in the Khordha district. The suburban region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Chakra ...

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Mumbai City *

premiership :

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nikum, Gyamar 2004 births Living people People from Kurung Kumey district Footballers from Arunachal Pradesh Indian men's footballers Rajasthan United FC players Mumbai City FC players I-League players Indian Super League players 21st-century Indian sportsmen Men's association football midfielders Inter Kashi FC players