The Hero Indian Super League approaches a decisive phase with the international players draft pick on Thursday.
IMG-Reliance announced an official list of 49 foreigners available for franchises to choose from, divided into goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and strikers. France pros Bernard Mendy and Gregory Arnolin are the highest paid players in Thursday’s draft, their gross wages valued at $80,000 (Rs. 48.6 lakhs approx) each.
Both defenders have a Paris Saint Germain connection. Mendy wore PSG colours and represented France in international events. Arnolin graduated from the PSG youth academy and then made a mark in the Spanish league for Sporting Gijon.
Spanish defender Jose Gonazlez Rey, listed in the $70,000 gross wages bracket (Rs. 42.5 lakh), played for Spanish club Malaga and then Liverpool in the EPL. According to an official communication to the franchises, the biggest chunk of foreigners contracted falls in the $58,185 bracket (Rs. 35.9 lakh) including Newcastle United and former England youth striker Michael Chopra.
The remaining players from the 49 in the draft pool fall into the $38,790 category (Rs. 23.7 lakh) and includes two 20-year-old Brazilians out of five from that country contracted by IMG-R for the first season. ISL franchises will be paying gross wages, as specified in the draft list, apart from agent commission and medical fees also mentioned in the communication to franchises.
Each franchise is allowed a maximum of seven foreigners (within the draft pool and beyond) besides a marquee player. Clubs have a provision of signing two foreigners outside the draft. Delhi Dynamos FC (two), Pune City FC (two), North-East United FC (two) and Athletic de Kolkata (one) made their move and announced their signings, so will be allowed to pick fewer players from the draft, compared to the other three (Mumbai City FC, Kerala Blasters and Team Goa).
HISL will have a separate draft for marquee players. Franchises have already announced their choice of marquee players — Joan Capdevila from Spain (North-East United FC), David Trezeguet from France (Pune City FC), Luis Garcia from Spain (Athletico de Kolkata) and David James from England (Kerala Blasters).
Frenchman Robert Pires and Sweden’s Freddie Ljunberg are the other marquee names contracted by IMG-R, co-owners of the event along with Reliance and Star Sports.
Each franchise is supposed to have a minimum squad strength of 22 (one marquee, seven foreigners and 14 Indians). Five additional players (locals, Indian internationals or foreigners) can be signed by each ISL franchise without seeking IMG-R permission.
The status of Bangalore Titans in the ISL is not known at this point, in the wake of Sun Group’s pullout. All eight franchises had taken part in the domestic player draft held earlier.
