ISL 2017: Top 6 clubs with most ex-foreign players at other ISL franchises this season
The 2017-18 season of the Indian Super League is almost upon us as the 17th November kick-off inches closer and closer. While the big attraction now is October's FIFA U-17 World Cup, ISL clubs are getting the preseason underway with one club, Bengaluru FC, already roughing it out in the AFC Cup's latter stages.
With the ISL's new, expanded format, there have been quite a few changes to the structures of every team and hence, we could see some well-known faces from past ISL campaigns strutting their stuff for some other club. With new head coaches - 9 out of the 10 clubs' head coaches will experience the ISL for the first time - changes in personnel were also expected and that is exactly what transpired after the end of the ISL transfer period on 12th September.
While new entrants Jamshedpur FC focused on recruiting proven ISL performers of the past, a few other clubs would live to regret their decision of not retaining some of the big foreign names from the past seasons. That said, the retooled ISL is a new lease of life for most clubs and hence, starting with a clean slate was the approach that most clubs took.
Let us take a look at the top five ISL clubs who will see their former players plying their trade at other ISL clubs this coming season.
#6 FC Pune City - 1 player
FC Pune City have three proven ISL players in their foreign contingent this term but they will also see a familiar face in the colours of Delhi Dynamos. Nigerian forward Kalu Uche played for the Balewadi Stadium-based outfit during the 2015 edition of India's popular franchise league and he was signed by Delhi Dynamos earlier this summer.
The 34-year-old is an experienced head, but he no longer remains an attacking threat like the one La Liga fans witnessed during his time at Almeria, but Pune City will still have to keep a watch on the man who scored four times for the Stallions in ISL-2.