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The Indian Super League held its first auction in Mumbai on the 10th of July where ten Indian players were put up for auction. It was the first time in India that in a player auction all the participants were bought by a team. The highest bid received was for Sunil Chhetri for a massive Rs. 1.20 crores while his Bengaluru FC teammate Rino Anto, with a base price of only Rs. 17.5 lakhs was sold for an astounding Rs.90 lakhs.The ISL domestic player draft began after the auction with teams trying to complete their squads for the league. Here is the performance of the teams in the auction and draft.
#1 Atletico de Kolkata
Champions in the inaugural season of the ISL, Atletico de Kolkata having retained quite a few players and signed a few more from their rivals, were expected to have a quiet day during the auction.
However, they spent over Rs.1.60 crores in the auction alone to strengthen their team even further. Midfielder Arata Izumi was signed for Rs. 68 lakhs while versatile defender Rino Anto cost them Rs.90 lakhs. Arata will give them an experienced and stable midfield along with the creativity he is renowned for while Anto has the capability of playing on either side of the defence.
In terms of the draft, the Kolkata side opted to pick two keepers Amrinder Singh and Kunzang Bhutia as backups for Juan Calatayud. In defence where they already had Mondal Josemi and Tiri, the reigning Champions signed up Salgaocar defender Augustin Fernandes. In Ian Hume, they have a guarantee of goals as well for the upcoming campaign.
All in all Atletico look to have a acquired a squad good enough to launch a strong title defense.
Verdict – 8/10
#2 Chennaiyin FC
Chennaiyin FC were knocked out of the ISL in the semi-finals in the league’s first season. They have, however, made some terrific signings to make sure they can do better this season. Even before the auction began they attracted the services of goalkeeper Edel Bete and striker Fikru Teferrra from Champions Atletico de Kolkata.
Chennaiyin FC came into the auction and draft to buy a replacement for Denson Devadas, who has signed up with FC Goa for the second edition of the tournament. They purchased Karanjit Singh and Thoi Singh for a total of Rs. 1.46 crores. Thoi Singh is an ideal replacement for Denson while Karanjit will be a more than able deputy for Bete.
Justin Stephen and Dhanpal Ganesh were the two main players purchased in the draft. Ganesh has been making a name for himself in the I-League, with his performances earning him a call-up to the National side. Stephe, on the other hand, was one of the ever present in the stringent Mumbai FC defense this season.
Scoring goals was not a problem for Chennaiyin last season, but they have retained most of their players and signed some more to keep the threat alive at all times. With Harmanjot Khabra and Dhanachandra Singh among their defensive ranks and both players having gained an extra season’s experience, Chennaiyin seem to have one of the strongest squads in the league.
Verdict – 9/10
#3 Delhi Dynamos
The Delhi Dynamos took a long time to announce their marquee player and manager, but when they did the entire country stood up and took notice. A World Cup and Champions League winner along with being one of the greatest defenders in his era, Roberto Carlos has played at the highest level and has managed at the highest level as well.
Delhi have also retained the services of Hans Mulder and Gustavo Dos Santos and have acquired Bengaluru FC striker Robin Singh for the second season of the league. Robin Singh was Delhi’s lone signing in the auction, but he will provide them with some serious physical presence upfront.
The North Indian side had retained a few of players including Seiminlen Doungel and Francis Fernandes but the draft was when they would need to get a few stars for their first team. In Sehnaj Singh and Naoba Singh the Dynamos have signed two excellent Indian players who they can play in almost every game in the league. Sehnaj played a major role in Mohun Bagan’s I-League triumph while Naoba’s experience will prove instrumental throughout the campaign.
They still look short of creativity and how Carlos will solve the problem will be interesting to see.
Verdict – 7/10
#4 FC Goa
FC Goa are the team who have a well and truly world class manager who knows what it takes to win. Zico made all his signings before the draft and the auction began to such an extent that Goa were available in just two rounds of the draft.
They have signed Brazillian defender Lucio as their marquee player along with signing up Atletico’s Joffre. Former Marseille goalkeeper Elinton Andrade will keep goal for the Goan club while Reinaldo and Victor will be responsible for the work done on the other side of the pitch. In the Indian contingent, they have already acquired the services of Denson Devadas from Chennaiyin FC while youngster Romeo Fernandes has returned from his loan spell at Atletico Paranaense.
Victorino Fernandes and Thongkhosiem Haokip were the only players Goa bought in the draft, but they would be disappointed to not get Brandon Fernandes in the draft. Fernandes was Mumbai’s first round pick in the draft and Goa were quick to ask for an instant trade. However, the negotiations did not pay dividends as Fernandes stayed at Mumbai.
Even though they did buy any major players in the draft and auction, it looks like Zico has a plan and they might just be the dark horses in this year’s tournament.
Verdict – 9/10
#5 Kerala Blasters
Kerala Blasters, who finished second in last season’s ISL retained many of their Indian players and signed up a few more players in the draft. Kerala were surprisingly quiet in the auction and were unable to acquire any of the strikers on show for themselves.
In the draft, they roped in local hero C.K.Vineeth, Peter Carvalho and Cavin Lobo to bolster the options available to manager Peter Taylor. They now a have an abundance of midfielders while their options in defense and the forward line are not aplenty.
With last season’s most promising youngster Sandesh Jhinghan in their team along with Gurwinder Singh and Nirmal Chettri the defenders might be able to stop the flow of goals, but with just two recognisable strikers in their midst they might struggle for goals when the tournament reaches its business end.
The Blasters might still pull a rabbit out of the hat but as of now they look the weakest team in the league.
Verdict – 7/10
#6 Mumbai City FC
Mumbai City were one of the most active teams in the ISL auction and draft as they needed to be. Having roped in Nicolas Anelka as a player-manager for the second ISL season, Mumbai needed to get a good Indian contingent to pose some serious threat to the playoff positions.
Mumbai scored only twelve goals in last season’s ISL and to solve the problem Mumbai splashed the cash and landed India’s best striker in the shape of Sunil Chhetri for an astonshing Rs.1.20 crores. They tried to get a couple of more players but were not able to get their hands on any more players.
During the draft, they opted for Brandon Fernandes, Fanai Lalrempuia and Debjit Majumder in the first three rounds, which made sure that they had a couple of reaaly good midfielders and a replacement goalkeeper for first choice Subarata Pal.
Even with the signings it looks like Mumbai might still be short of a couple of players and where there was no doubt in Anelka’s capabilities as a player, his proficiency as a mamager is still unproven, so it will be interesting to see how much Mumbai can improve from last season debacle.
Verdict – 7/10
#7 NorthEast United FC
NorthEast United have signed up former Portugal-international Simao as their marquee player and former Venezuelan manager Cesar Farias as their marquee manager along with Royal Wahingdoh manager Santosh Kashyup as the assistant manager.
Going into the auction and draft it was expected that the club would try to sign the as many North Eastern players as possible in the auction, but they ended up with only Seityasen Singh for Rs.56 lakhs. Going into the draft they had a the maximum allotted money for domestic players but they were unable to make too much use out of it. As the draft came along they signed Lalthuammawia Ralte, Siam Hanghal and Reagan Singh as their first three picks.
They recently signed former Fulham striker Diomansy Kamara and former Auxerre defender Cedric Hengbart to bolster the squad while retaining Miguel Garcia ahead of the season. They dont have the best Indian players in their team when they could have bought both Eugeneson Lyngdoh and Jackichand Singh, keeping with their tradition of signing North Eastern players.
However, with an impressive array of international talent in the team and a manager with international experinece, it looks like NorthEast United will definitely fair better than last season when they finished last on the table.
Verdict – 8/10
#8 FC Pune City
FC Pune City is another team that needed to buy players in the auction and with a budget of Rs. 2.87 crores they were expected to break the bank and they didn't disappoint. Pune City became the first club to purchase a player in an ISL auction when they purchased the I-League player for the year, Jackichand Singh for Rs.45 lakhs.
They then became the first club to purchase a player for more than Rs. 1 crore when they snatched up the I-League midfielder of the year Eugeneson Lyngdoh for Rs. 1.05 crores. But it didn’t stop there as they purchased a further 5 players in the draft namely Bikash Jairu, Gurjinder Kumar, Sushant Matthews, Lalit Thapa and Gunashekar Vignesh.
Pune have experienced Indian players such as Gouramangi Singh, Arindam Bhattacharya and Lenny Rodrigez. to carry the mantle forward. They have to sign a few good international players to stand a chance of making it to the playoffs.
With David Platt’s experience, Pune might be one of the other teams to look out for in this season’s Indian Super League.
Verdict – 8/10
