KOCHIl: For the Indian Super League clubs, the recent transfer window was perhaps the most challenging one. The FSDL (Football Sports Development Limited) announced in mid-August that the league would start from November. With such a short window available for clubs, there were plenty of questions on how the clubs would attract foreign players, especially during times of pandemic.
However, it’s fair to say that the teams have done well. The likes of Gary Hooper, Steven Taylor, Anthony Pilkington and Adam Le Fondre will be in action and they are footballers who have played in the English Premier League.
Meanwhile, Vicente Gomez was battling it out with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in the La Liga until a few seasons back.
Bakary Kone spent five seasons at French giants Olympique Lyonnais and played against the best in the Champions League.
“A lot of groundwork went into planning. The pandemic situation affects transfer dealings because it means that some players who would have agreed to a salary if there would have been no pandemic, the pandemic makes the salary go up if you want to attract top players who are leaving their secure environment to play in India. We had to make measured decisions,” said Abhik Chatterjee, Head of Football Operations, Odisha FC.
Season one had the likes of Robert Pires, Alessandro Del Piero, David Trezeguet, Freddie Ljunberg, Luis Garcia, Elano, David James and Joan Capdevilla. In the coming seasons, the likes of Lucio, Roberto Carlos, Nicolas Anelka and Diego Forlan came along.
While these footballers rank among the finest to have played, by the time they arrived in India, they were already retired or semi-retired.
“The league realised that fans are knowledgeable. Now teams are improving and they are learning from their previous experiences and clubs are looking out for quality players who have played at the highest level and can still contribute,” said FC Goa Technical Director Derrick Pereira.
Two NorthEast players positive
NorthEast United FC have reported two positive COVID cases. The team had another round of tests where all other players returned negative reports.