ISL 2020-21: Indian players who become free agents after this season

With contracts in Indian football getting shorter by the day, we are seeing a number of temporary transfers and loan deals in Indian football and in particular, in the Indian Super League (ISL). As a result, a number of clubs now look at bagging players on bosman deals after the completion of their existing contract. Here we take a look at each ISL team and discuss some of the Indian names that will be available for free at the end of this season.

ATK Mohun Bagan

Jayesh Rane, Boris Singh and Komal Thattal are the three players whose contracts run out this year. While Jayesh has featured significantly for the Mariners this term, the other two have been on the fringes. In fact, Komal is part of the reserves squad and was flown to Goa just recently to provide cover along with defender Salam Ranjan Singh. It augurs well for the club that they have most of their important players tied up with longer deals, much of which can be attributed to the merger and subsequent contract renewals.

SC East Bengal

The list is rather long for SC East Bengal and features 13 names including the likes of Jeje, Narayan Das, CK Vineeth, Debjit Majumder, Bikash Jairu and Rana Gharami. Raju Gaikwad was also brought in on a short-term deal and will be a free agent in the summer. Milan Singh, Wahengbam Luwang, Mirshad K, Yumnam Gopi Singh and Harmanpreet Singh are some of the younger players who will also be without a club post this season. Sankar Roy, who moved on loan to Hyderabad FC also features. It looks likely that Robbie Fowler will have to rebuild his team in the summer unless some of these players are offered a renewal.

FC Goa

Mohammad Nawaz is the most interesting name in the list for the Gaurs and is set to move to Mumbai City to reunite with Sergio Lobera. His replacement for now, Naveen Kumar will also be on the same boat but one feels he might be in with a chance to renew his deal to compete with the arriving Dheeraj Singh. Saviour Gama and Aibanbha Dohling are the others with Saviour tipped for a new contract.

Mumbai City FC

Amrinder Singh, Pranjal Bhumij, Valpuia and Vignesh Dakshinamurthy are the names for the Islanders. While Amrinder is set for a move to ATK Mohun Bagan, it will be interesting to see where Vignesh ends up after a quietly impressive campaign so far. The remaining two have barely featured for Sergio Lobera and are on their way out.

Bengaluru FC

Captain Sunil Chhetri, Rahul Bheke and Harmanjot Khabra are the experienced heads who are in their final year. Suresh Singh Wangjam is another name who will have lots of suitors in the summer owing to his consistency over the past couple of seasons. One would expect the Blues hierarchy to tie him down soon. Striker Semboi Haokip however, is someone who will look to move on in the summer.

https://twitter.com/IndSuperLeague/status/1012281957038714880

Kerala Blasters

The talented Denechandra Meitei, Sandeep Singh and Ritwik Das are the three Tuskers who are free after ISL 7. Left back Meitei has not featured this season but the other two have, intermittently. With Kibu Vicuna’s side having an underwhelming season, it seems like all of them might be let go as they look for new faces.

Chennaiyin FC

Chennaiyin have six players here. Reagan Singh, Rahim Ali, Edwin Vanspaul and Deepak Tangri are the regulars and should interest lots of other clubs in the market considering their age profile. Abhijit Sarkar and Lalchuanmawia are the other two who haven’t got minutes this term and might be moved on.

NorthEast United

Subhasish Roychowdhury and Wayne Vaz are the two NorthEast United players on this list. While the former was linked with a move to East Bengal earlier, that didn’t materialize. He has started a few games since and might be re-signed by the club. For 26-year-old defender Wayne Vaz however, this might be the end of the road for him with the Highlanders.

Jamshedpur FC

Issac Vanmalsawma, Aniket Jadhav, Pawan Kumar and Joyner Lorenco are the ones who will be free agents in the summer. Aniket has been impressive this term while Lorenco and Issac have featured irregularly. The experienced Pawan Kumar, who was signed from NorthEast United last year will however be looking forward to a move after barely featuring this term.

Hyderabad FC

With Subrata Paul departing for East Bengal, the Nizams will have to make a decision on whether they want to renew Laxmikant Kattimani’s contract or look elsewhere. The talented Hitesh Sharma and Danmawia are also in the final few months of their current deal.

https://twitter.com/IndSuperLeague/status/1350481083066798080

Odisha FC

Jerry Mawihmingthanga is the only Odisha player to be in the final year of his existing deal. The winger has featured fairly regularly for the Kalinga Warriors and seems to be in Stuart Baxter’s plans. However, with the way that they have capitulated under pressure this season, it remains to be seen whether he is retained for the job and is given time to build a competitive squad.