What’s the story?
As many as 199 players have been put up for sale at the domestic player draft by the Indian Super League (ISL). Among them, midfielder Eugeneson Lyngdoh and defender Anas Edathodika have commanded the highest price of Rs 1.10 crore each, thus becoming the costliest players in the draft.
FC Pune City were keen on retaining Eugeneson but the footballer had negotiated hard. However, the club was not willing to spend as much. Anas, on the other hand, could not agree on terms with Delhi Dynamos. The Dynamos believed his over Rs 1 crore price tag was unjustified and unreasonable.
Among the other highest grossers are, goalkeepers Subrata Paul (Rs 87 lakh) and Arindam Bhattacharya (Rs 73 lakh, which includes a Rs 9 lakh transfer fee for Pune City), and defender Pritam Kotal (Rs 75 lakh).
Also read: ISL 2017: Ranking the head coaches of all 10 clubs
In case you didn’t know…
Eight of the ten ISL teams had retained 16 players. Only Delhi Dynamos and Tata Steel's new team did not retain or sign any Indian player. The rest of the Indian players have to be signed in the draft.
The players retained by the ten clubs ahead of the domestic draft are Debjit Majumder and Prabir Das (Atletico de Kolkata), Sunil Chhetri and Udanta Singh (Bengaluru FC), Jeje Lalpekhlua, Karanjit Singh and Under-21, national team capped Jerry Lalrinzuala (Chennaiyin FC), Laxmikant Kattimani and Mandar Rao Dessai (FC Goa), CK Vineeth and Sandesh Jhingan (Kerala Blasters), Sehnaj Singh and Amrinder Singh (Mumbai City FC), Rowllin Borges and Rehenesh (TP NorthEast United) and U21 Vishal Kaith (Pune City FC).
The heart of the matter
With no cap on spending, all the franchises have been encouraged to spend freely in the draft. The ISL does have a salary cap of Rs 12.5 crore for foreign players, barring the marquee signing, and Rs 18 crore to build the entire squad.
The annual salaries of the players in the draft range from Rs 4 lakh to a whopping Rs 1.10 crore. Here is the list of the best-paid players in the draft:
| Player | Salary |
|---|---|
| Eugeneson Lyngdoh | Rs 1.10cr |
| Anas Edathodika | Rs 1.10cr |
| Subrata Paul | Rs 87 lakh |
| Pritam Kotal | Rs 75 lakh |
| Arindam Bhattacharya | Rs 73 lakh |
| Balwant Singh | Rs 65 lakh |
| Robin Singh | Rs 65 lakh |
| Lenny Rodrigues | Rs 60 lakh |
| Narayan Das | Rs 58 lakh |
| Pronay Halder | Rs 58 lakh |
What’s next?
This edition of the ISL will see 10 teams competing for the title for the first time since its inception. The season will kick off on November 18.
Author’s take
With the number of foreign players in the starting XI of a team being reduced for the upcoming season of the ISL, teams will have to depend on a strong domestic contingent in their squads. This makes the draft even more interesting as the teams will undoubtedly jump for the best Indian players.
Also read: ISL 2017: Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi's unlikely link to the Indian Super League
