Reports suggest Habas did not just return to East Bengal to steady the ship. He returned with a familiar idea of how to build a frontline, and Edmund seems to sit right at the centre of it.
The report says the pair’s bond was forged at Inter Kashi, where Habas is said to have altered the forward’s role:
For a coach with a long reputation in Indian football, that kind of continuity matters. Managers often talk about systems; the best ones find players who understand them instinctively.
If Habas brings the structure, Edmund brings the emotional pull. The report casts this as a full-circle moment after an earlier, painful chapter with East Bengal.
It says his first derby against Mohun Bagan in the 2019-20 season ended almost as soon as it began, and that later back trouble even placed his future in doubt. That is why this latest moment feels so resonant. It is not only a trophy story. It is a footballer reclaiming a place he once seemed destined to lose.
“Espero que seja apenas o início de uma nova jornada e que mais troféus venham,” Edmund Lalrindika said, according to the report.
If this reported win is the start of a new East Bengal cycle, then the Habas-Edmund connection will be the first thread to follow. Derby victories always echo loudly in Kolkata, but the bigger question now is whether this reunion can carry into the next league phase - and whether one cup can become the foundation for a far bigger season.