The official ISL site described Krishna’s captures as a ‘huge coup’

You can forgive Krishna for such a move.

The money is probably good and with his back story, will be treated as a hero in a football-mad part of a growing football nation like India.

However, some believe he should’ve remained in the A-League for now while still in his prime, and gone to India later in his career.

It’s a slap in the face for the A-League, say others.

“It’s a hit to everybody, Roy going over to India, a league that’s not well respected,” former A-League Premiership and AFC Champions League winner Brendon Santalab tells FTBL. 

“A league that really is not strong whereas you look at the A-League, it’s a great standard.

“We have our issues off the park with the game here but we need to be able to keep our stars, and Roy Krishna is a star.

“He has been in our league for quite a while. And for our league to get stronger, we need to hold onto these sorts of big names.

“Obviously I don’t work at the top but people need to start to look at how we can retain our stars.”

That said, Krishna has an exciting new adventure ahead of him.

ATK (formerly known as Atletico de Kolkata) has a huge fanbase and plays at the 85,000-seat capacity Salt Lake Stadium.

The club has a Spanish flavour after a previous partnership with Atletico Madrid (they play in the same home kit of red, white and blue), and are coached by Spaniard and former Celta Vigo boss Antonio Lopez Habas. 

Previous marquee signings at the club include Helder Postiga, Roy Keane and Luis Garcia.

ATK is partly owned by former Indian cricket star Sourav Ganguly.

“Not just the money, but the value they give me and my wife and hopefully my fan base can increase,” Krishna told FijiVillage CFL yesterday after announcing the move. 

“They valued me more than any other clubs.”

Krishna added his wife was an important part of his decision making on this move.

The A-League striker is one of a quartet of visa players ATK has signed and is the biggest name given his pedigree. 

John Johnson from England, Spaniard Edu Garcia and Carl McHugh from the Republic of Eire are also set to call Kolkata home. 

The current ISL champions are Bengaluru, who featured Aussie Erik Paartalu and former Western Sydney Wanderers midfielder Dimas Delgado.

Other names of note in the league are Josep Gombau (coaching Delhi) and John Gregory at Chennai. Ex-Hull City boss Phil Brown has also been coaching in India, at Pune City.

The sixth ISL season is due to kick off in late September.

“Krishna's ancestors left Kolkata 140 years ago for Fiji and now, he is set to step foot in the football-mad city,”  added Pande.

“In a way, life has come full circle for him.”