ISL 2017: 5 star players who rejected ISL to play in I-League this season
The 2017-18 Indian Super League season will kickstart in earnest this November and teams have been preparing themselves for a shot at title glory in what promises to be the biggest ever ISL yet. With two new teams added to the roster and the competition expanded to five months, the 2017-18 ISL will be a new-look affair with new sets of players and coaches arriving on Indian shores.
That said, plenty of familiar faces will not be around this time when the ISL kicks in. While the likes of Diego Forlan, Didier Zokora and Helder Postiga will not be seen in the ISL this season, a few former ISL stars will instead line up for I-League clubs this season when the other top-flight league of Indian football starts at about the same time in mid-November.
Without further ado, let's take a look at five star ISL players who will play in the I-League 2017-18 instead.
#5 Eduardo Ferreira
The Equatoguinean centre-back played for FC Pune City last season and was one of their most impressive defenders. However, the Stallions finished a disappointing sixth, shipping 16 goals in the process and ending another season without making the playoffs.
Eduardo has joined East Bengal this season after a struggling spell at Mohun Bagan in the I-League last time out. The experienced defender will be a key cog in Khalid Jamil's team with Carlyle Mitchell currently out injured. According to sources, a couple of ISL clubs were in the hunt for the player but offered reduced terms that led to Eduardo rebuffing the ISL and settling for East Bengal.