India's finest footballers Sunil Chhetri, Robin Singh and eight others are set to feature in the Indian Super League (ISL) players' auction as team owners will bid for the 10 best Indian talents for the 2015 season here on Friday.
The players, who missed a chance to participate in the 2014 inaugural edition because of individual and I-League club contracts, will get a chance to bag a deal in the second edition of the competition that starts on October 3.
Four-time All India Football Federation (AIFF) player of the year Chhetri has the highest base price in the auction at Rs.80 lakh.
Chhetri has been leading the national side and also Bengaluru FC, which won the 2014 I-League title. He was the top joint scorer in the league that year. The 30-year-old is best known for his goal scoring abilities and also for his passing, dribbling, and maneuvering.
Goalkeeper Karanjeet Singh has a base price of Rs.60 lakh. Robin, Arata Izumi and Anas Edathodika have been pegged at Rs.40 lakh each while Thoi Singh is just a notch below at Rs.39 lakh.
Robin is another player to watch out for at the auction. Portraying a fine physique and possessing the ability to score freely, club owners will be aiming to grab hold of him besides Chhetri.
Eugeneson Lyngdoh has been priced at Rs.27.5 lakh while and Jackichand Singh and Seityasen Singh are at Rs.20 lakh each. Rino Anto has the lowest base price at Rs.17.50 lakh.
Six of the 10 players -- Chhetri, Robin, Thoi, Izumi, Edathodika and Karanjeet -- have signed with Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), the promoters of ISL, as free agents. Jackichand and Seityasen have been loaned from I-League club Royal Wahingdoh FC while Anto and Lyngdoh have been leased out by Bengaluru FC.
This is just the auction. Additionally, FSDL also announced an extensive list of 113 Indians for the ISL 2015 draft.
The eight ISL franchisees, as of date, have 64 Indian players on their roster either retained from last year or signed from the open market. The comprehensive draft list will help ISL franchisees to fill up a total of 40 positions of the Indian player quota.
