Indian football dons a coat of glitter during the Hero Indian Super League, where local league stars rub shoulders with higher-paid foreigners and attempt to move with the ball like them. The association extends to the ISL player draft where eight foreign coaches sign up the Indian support cast to complement the internationals in the line-up.
Ten national team players go under the hammer, 114 other Indians will be up for grabs in the domestic draft. Friday will be such a day under the spotlight for Indian footballers on the national squad, besides others toiling for clubs in the I-League.
The ISL player auction will see the likes of young striker Jackichand Singh and playmaker Eugeneson Lyngdoh appearing on the list of recruits drawn up by FC Goa head coach Zico, Athletico de Kolkata head coach Antonio Habas to name a few.
Jackichand, named I-League 2015 best player and Eugeneson named best midfielder in the same event, command a base price of Rs. 20 lakh and Rs. 27.50 lakh respectively going into the auction.
The bidding between ISL franchise team owners, advised by head coaches, may push up the valuation to astonishing levels. India’s struggle to hold head above water in World Cup Qualifying Asia Zone matches will be forgotten in the hysteria.
India captain Sunil Chhetri (highest base price Rs. 80 lakh) commands such popularity among fans and is a marketable face that ISL owners, prodded by sponsors, will compete with each other for the striker’s services.
He is a football brand in the wake of I-League performances in Goa (for Churchill Brothers) or Delhi (amateur career) where ISL franchises FCG and Delhi Dynamos FC are based, besides Kolkata (ATK) and North-East India (North-East United FC).
Chetri missed the first ISL due to a contract agreement with Bengaluru FC and is one of six Free Agents signed up with Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), hoping to improve his player profile partnering a World Cupper like Nicolas Anelka (Mumbai City FC player-manager), Brazilian Lucio (FC Goa star signing) or Spanish league player Borja Fernandez (Athletico de Kolkata). Five other Free Agents (Robin Singh, Karanjeet Singh, Thoi Singh, Arata Izumi and Anas Edathodika) will be on the verge of hitting big-time. The unsold footballers from these names will go to the subsequent Player Draft involving 113 footballers at base price cost, ranging from Rs. 33 lakh to Rs. 1.80 lakh.
Each ISL franchise is allowed a purse of Rs. 21 crore, allowed to spend maximum of Rs. 5.50 crore on domestic players and complete the requirement of 13 in each team.
Goalkeepers: L Ralte, Soram Polrel, Nidhin Lal, Amrinder Singh, Lalit Thapa, Nikhil Bernard, Albino Gomes, Luis Baretto, Abhra Mondal, Ravi Kumar, L Premkumar Singh, L Bishojit Singh, Kunzang Bhutia, Debjit Majumder and Shilton Paul.
Defenders: Keegan Periera, Chinta Chandrashekhar Rao, Justin Stephen, Prabir Das, Rahul Bheke, Avinabo Bag, Matthew Gonsalves, Raju Yumnam, Salam Ranjan Singh, Munmun Lugun, Zohimnglinna Ralte, C Lallawmzuala, Lalchhawnkima, Lalhmangaihsanga Ralte, Reagan Singh, Augustin Fernandes, Brian Mascheranas, Gilbert Oliviera, Nicolau Colaco, Keenan Almeida, Ngouba Singh, Samuel Shadap, Nim Dorjee Tamang, Jessel Carneiro, Shouvik Ghosh, Sukhen Dey, Sadsh Singh, Zodingliana Ralte, Samir Naik, Deepak Devrani, Govin Singh, Biswajit Saha, Naoba Singh, Anupam Sarkar and Rakesh Masih.
Midfielders: Shankar Sampingiraj, Shilton D’Silva, Slam Hanghal, Malemnganba Meitel, Gunashekar Vignesh, Fulganco Cardozo, Alwyn George, Germanpreet Singh, Abhinash Ruidas, Lalkamal Bhowmick, Sehnaj Singh, Collin Abranches, Reisangmei Vashum, Ashutosh Mehta, Sampath Kutty Mani, Dhanpal Ganesh, Fanai Lalrempuia, Lalramluaha Hmar, Nikhil Kadam, Vellington Rocha, Marlangki Suting, Calvin Lobo, Prohlad Roy, Mohammad Rafique, Bikash Jairu, Karma Tsewang, Thangjam Saran Singh, Zakeer Mundampara, Joseph Lalfakzuala, Beevan D’Mello, Cajetan Fernandes, Peter Carvalho, Pratesh Shirodkar, Rowllin Borges, Velito Cruz, C Laldinmawia, Malsawmtluanga, A Sushil Meitei, Loken Meitei, Pradeep Mohanraj, Aayushman Chaturvedi, Brandon Fernandes, Bineesh Balan, Tirthankar Sarkar, Manish Bhargav, Jalson Vales, Tapan Maitry, Steven Dias, Prateek Shinde, Gurjinder Kumar, Sushant Matthew and Asif Kottayil.
Strikers: Beikhokhei Beingaichho, CK Vineeth, Uttam Rai, Thongkhosiem Haokip, Aslon Oliveira, Sumeet Passi, Victorino Fernandes, Pankaj Moula, Manandeep Singh, Durga Boro and Milagres Gonsalves.
