ISL 2017: Top 5 Bargain Buys in the Draft
The 2017 Indian Super League (ISL) Player Draft took place in Mumbai on Sunday and all the teams have built their home-grown contingent after 15 rounds of the draft process. The teams had a total salary cap of Rs 18 crore, out of which Rs 12.5 crore were reserved for foreign players. The 10 clubs together spent Rs 48.85 crore while in 2014, the eight teams that were part of the tournament spent a total of Rs 24 crore to acquire all the players. Bengaluru FC and Jamshedpur FC were added to the ISL ahead of the draft.
Except for Delhi Dynamos and Jamshedpur, every team had at least two players already in their ranks at the start of the draft, which meant that these two sides started first in the auction.
Jamshedpur roped in Anas Edathodika at the very beginning, one of the costliest players in the draft, for a whopping Rs 1.1 crores. The newcomers picked up ace goalkeeper Subrata Paul as well. Eugeneson Lyngdoh was signed by reigning champions ATK for a similar amount.
There are few players who are getting such a low salary which wasn’t really expected. Let’s have a look at five footballers who could have made it big but failed unfortunately on the day.
Mohammad Rafi
Rafi won the first ISL title in 2014 with Atletico de Kolkata. He also appeared in another final in 2016 with Kerala Blasters but unfortunately, his team lost to Chennayin FC. At this year’s ISL draft, his salary was set at 30 lakhs and after waiting out a few rounds, Chennaiyin FC picked him up, suggesting the former India international isn't a top target these days.
In 2014, he scored just one goal for ATK in his 10 appearances, whereas for Kerala Blasters, he scored six goals in 25 appearances over two seasons. This former India striker doesn’t have many days left in his career. He is 35 now and if he doesn’t make a startling impact in this year’s ISL then it would be hard for him to get a team next year.