Indian Women’s Footballers Playing Abroad: Manisha Kalyan, Jyoti Chauhan, Ruchi Yadav and Aveka Singh Take Indian Football Global

For years, Indian women’s footballers had very limited opportunities to build careers outside the country. Overseas moves were rare, and even when players did make the jump, they often had to navigate unfamiliar football structures without an established pathway to follow.

That picture is changing.

A growing group of Indian players is now taking the next step in their careers by playing outside the country, gaining exposure to different tactical systems, higher levels of competition and longer domestic seasons.

Among the current group, four names stand out: Manisha Kalyan, Aveka Singh, Jyoti Chauhan and Ruchi Yadav.

Importantly, three of the four are currently playing in the top division of their respective countries. Aveka Singh's move is slightly different, with her playing for Næstved HG in Denmark's second tier.

That distinction is important because these transfers represent different stages of development, rather than simply being overseas moves.

Manisha Kalyan: AEK Athens, Greece

Manisha Kalyan remains one of the biggest pioneers of India's modern women's football movement abroad. The Punjab-born forward has already built considerable experience in European football. Her overseas journey began in Cyprus with Apollon Ladies in 2022, where she became the first Indian footballer to feature in the UEFA Women's Champions League.

Kalyan enjoyed a highly successful spell in Cyprus, scoring 16 goals in 46 appearances and helping Apollon win consecutive Cypriot First Division titles. She also won the Cypriot Women's Cup and Super Cup during her time there.

She subsequently moved to Greece, joining PAOK in 2024 and registering eight goals and five assists across 23 appearances in the 2024–25 season. After a brief spell in Peru with Alianza Lima Femenino, Kalyan returned to Greece in 2026, this time signing for AEK Athens.

AEK compete in the Greek A Division, the country's top tier, meaning Kalyan continues to operate at the highest level of Greek women's domestic football. Her journey has also become an important reference point for younger Indian players looking to make the move to Europe.

Aveka Singh: Næstved HG, Denmark

Aveka Singh has followed a very different route. The Delhi-born midfielder developed through the American collegiate system, earning a scholarship at the University of California, Irvine and competing in NCAA Division I.

She also gained European experience with Spain's Fundacion Terrassa before making the move to Denmark in 2025, signing for Næstved HG. Næstved HG compete in the Kvinde 1. Division, Denmark's second tier, making Singh the only player among these four currently playing below the top division.

That does not make the move any less significant. For Singh, the Danish second tier represents an important competitive environment in which she can continue developing as a central midfielder. The Scandinavian game offers demanding physical and tactical conditions, while the Danish league provides regular competitive football.

Her progress has already translated to the international stage. In 2026, Singh scored five goals in seven appearances for India, including a four-goal performance against the Maldives at the SAFF Women's Championship.

Jyoti Chauhan: Bnot Netanya, Israel

Jyoti Chauhan's overseas career has already taken her through one European top flight, and she has now moved to another. The Madhya Pradesh forward previously played for Croatian club ŽNK Dinamo Zagreb between 2022 and 2024. During that period, she scored 18 goals in 25 league appearances and became the first Indian professional player to score a hat-trick in a European top-flight domestic league.

She also helped Dinamo Zagreb win the Croatian Women's Cup in 2024. In June 2026, Chauhan made another significant move, joining Bnot Netanya FC in Israel.

The club competes in the Ligat Nashim First Division, the top tier of Israeli women's football. Chauhan's transfer therefore represents another top-flight European/Mediterranean opportunity for an Indian international.

Her journey demonstrates that overseas opportunities for Indian players are no longer necessarily one-off experiences. Players can now build careers by moving between different international leagues.

Ruchi Yadav: Nashama Al-Mustaqbal, Jordan

Ruchi Yadav represents another emerging pathway. The Delhi midfielder developed through domestic football and India's youth national-team system before earning an overseas opportunity in Jordan in 2026. She joined Amman-based Nashama Al-Mustaqbal SC, a club that had earned promotion to Jordan's top flight after winning the 2024 Jordan Women's First Division League.

Yadav now operates in the Jordan Women's Pro League, the country's first tier, where she has taken on a midfield role for the newly promoted side. She also features in the Women's Jordan Cup. Her move is particularly significant because Jordan is becoming an increasingly relevant destination for Asian women's footballers seeking regular competitive opportunities outside their domestic leagues.

The current picture is therefore clear.

Manisha Kalyan — AEK Athens, Greece — Top Tier

Jyoti Chauhan — Bnot Netanya, Israel — Top Tier

Ruchi Yadav — Nashama Al-Mustaqbal, Jordan — Top Tier

Aveka Singh — Næstved HG, Denmark — Second Tier

This spread is actually encouraging for Indian women's football.

Not every player needs to immediately enter a country's first division. A competitive second-tier environment can provide regular playing time, tactical development and a pathway towards the top flight. At the same time, the presence of Kalyan, Chauhan and Yadav in top-flight leagues shows that Indian players are increasingly capable of competing directly at the highest domestic level in other countries.

Why playing abroad matters

The significance of these moves extends beyond the four players themselves. India's women's domestic football calendar has historically offered fewer competitive matches than the longer seasons available in many overseas leagues. Moving abroad can therefore give players access to more regular football, different tactical systems and new training environments.

European football can expose Indian players to intense pressing and tactical discipline, while leagues in the Mediterranean and West Asia provide different physical and technical challenges.

The national team can ultimately benefit from that experience.

Manisha Kalyan, Jyoti Chauhan, Ruchi Yadav and Aveka Singh are therefore part of something bigger than four individual transfers. They represent an expanding pathway in which Indian women footballers are looking beyond the domestic ecosystem and testing themselves in different football cultures.

And perhaps most importantly, younger Indian players now have something that previous generations often lacked: visible examples of Indian women building professional football careers abroad.