Ten franchise sides, including the two new entrants of Jamshedpur FC and Bengaluru FC, will seek to buy the best Indians on offer for the ISL season four which will be starting in November as a five-month long league.
Top players like Sunil Chhetri, Udanta Singh, Jeje Lalpekhlua, C K Vineeth and Sandesh Jhingan will not be up for grabs as they have been retained by their respective clubs. Chhetri and Udanta have been retained by Bengaluru while 2015 edition winners Chennaiyin FC decided to keep Jeje with them this season also.
The clubs were allowed to retain a maximum of two senior players from their 2016 squad, in addition to upto three U-21 players to fill up the development player quota. Eight teams have already signed up 22 domestic players, while Delhi Dynamos have opted to begin on a fresh note.
Both Lyngdoh and Anas, who were released by FC Pune City and Delhi Daynamos respectively, have been kept at the base price of Rs 1.10 crores each, according to sources.
More From This Section
Goalkeepers like Paul, who was recently let off with a warning after a doping infringement, and Arindam could be in demand as the new ISL regulations have reduced the number of foreign players a team can have in the playing eleven from six to five.
Most of the teams would want to have foreigners as out- field players instead of losing out one slot to a goalie.
The salary cap for each team (both Indian and foreign players) has been set at Rs 18 crores and only a maximum of Rs 12.5 crores can be utilised to sign overseas players. So, each team gets a minimum of Rs 5.5 crore to buy Indian players.
As the new team in ISL, Jamshedpur will get the first pick in both the first and second rounds, while Dynamos will be the second to exercise their right in the opening round.
The Instant Trading Card, first introduced in ISL 2015 Player Draft, allows teams a second chance to trade an already picked player. From the third round onwards, any club may, within 15 seconds of another club announcing its Draft pick, press the buzzer to activate the "Instant Trade" process.
ISL regulations allow clubs to have a minimum of 15 and maximum of 18 Indian players in the squad, including two mandatory Under-21 development players. The maximum squad size will be of 25 players and must contain a minimum of seven foreign players and 15 Indian players. This must also include at least two U-21 players (players born after January 1997).
Atletico de Kolkata:
Retained: Debjit Majumdar, Prabir Das (both senior)
No of players to be picked: Min 13; Entry: 3rd Round
Retained: Sunil Chhetri, Udanta Singh (both senior); Nishu Kumar, Malsawmzuala (both U-21).
No. Of players to be picked: Min 13; Entry: 3rd Round
Chennaiyin FC
Retained: Jeje Lalpekhlua, Karanjit Singh (both senior); Jerry Lalrinzuala, Anirudh Thapa (both U-21)
No. Of players to be picked: Min 12; Entry: 4th Round
Delhi Dynamos FC:
Retained: None
No. Of players to be picked: Min 15; Entry: 1st Round
FC Goa:
Retained: Laxmikant Kattimani, Mandar Rao (both senior)
No of players to be picked: Min 13; Entry: 3rd Round
FC Pune City:
Retained: Vishal Kaith (senior); Ashique Kuruniyan (U-21)
No. Of players to be picked: Min 14; Entry: 2nd Round
Retained: C K Vineeth, Sandesh Jhingan (both senior); Prashanth Karuthadathkuni (U-21)
No. Of players to be picked: Min 13; Entry: 3rd Round
Mumbai City FC:
Retained: Amrinder Singh, Sehnaj Singh (both senior); Rakesh Oram (U-21)
No. Of players to be picked: Min 13; Entry: 3rd Round
North East United FC:
Retained: Rowllin Borges, T P Rehenesh (both senior)
No. Of players to be picked: Min 13; Entry: 3rd Round
Jamshedpur FC:
Retained: None
No. Of players to be picked: Min 15: Entry: 1st Round.