List of Indian Super League marquees

Since its inception, the Indian Super League, one of the top footballing tournaments in India, has adopted the marquee player rule in which all eight teams signed one player to be their marquee player for the season. The rule allows ISL teams to pursue players who, in their prime, were considered superstars in the game. Their presence would help build attendances and fanfare throughout the league while also benefiting the players on the field performance wise.

Former Liverpool and Spanish international player, Luis García was the first marquee player in the Indian Super League when he signed for Atlético de Kolkata. ^[1]

History

Prior to the start of the Indian Super League, it was announced that all teams would include at least one marquee player in their side. Luis García was the first marquee signed when he was bought in by Atlético de Kolkata in July 2014. ^[1] The first season began with the inaugural class of marquee players being García at Atlético de Kolkata, former Brazilian international Elano at Chennaiyin, former Juventus and World Cup winning Italian forward Alessandro Del Piero at Delhi Dynamos, former Arsenal and World Cup winning France midfielder Robert Pires at Goa, former England international goalkeeper David James at Kerala Blasters, former Swedish international Freddie Ljungberg at Mumbai City, another former Spanish international and World Cup winner Joan Capdevila at NorthEast United, and former French international and World Cup winner, David Trezeguet, at Pune City. ^[2] For Kerala Blasters, David James not only served as the marquee player but also as the team's head coach. ^[2]

After the first season, the ISL introduced a salary cap of 20 crore which also included marquee players in the cap. ^[3] Due to the new salary cap and various other reasons, only Elano was retained as a marquee player for the 2015 season. ^[3] Atlético de Kolkata decided to replace García with former Portuguese international Hélder Postiga. ^[4] Both Delhi Dynamos and Goa continued the run of bringing in Brazilian marquee players by signing former internationals Roberto Carlos and Lúcio respectively. ^{[5] [6]} NorthEast United signed another former Portugal international in Simão Sabrosa while the Kerala Blasters bought in Carlos Marchena. ^{[7] [8]} Mumbai City and Pune City signed Nicolas Anelka and former Chelsea forward Adrian Mutu respectively. ^{[9] [10]} Both Carlos and Anelka would also serve as player-coaches throughout the season.^{[ citation needed ]}

After the 2015 season it was announced that signing marquee players who also served as head coaches would be banned from happening in the Indian Super League. ^[11]

2016 season marquee players

Year signed	Team	Marquee
2015	Atlético de Kolkata	Hélder Postiga [12]
2016	Chennaiyin	John Arne Riise [13]
2016	Delhi Dynamos	Florent Malouda [14]
2015	Goa	Lúcio [15]
2016	Kerala Blasters	Aaron Hughes [16]
2016	Mumbai City	Diego Forlán [17]
2016	NorthEast United	Didier Zokora [18]
2016	Pune City	Mohamed Sissoko [19]

Past marquee players

Year signed	Player	Club
2014	Luis García [20]	Atlético de Kolkata
2014–2015	Elano [21] [22]	Chennaiyin
2014	Alessandro Del Piero [23]	Delhi Dynamos
2014	Robert Pires [24]	Goa
2014	David James [25]	Kerala Blasters
2014	Freddie Ljungberg [26]	Mumbai City
2014	Joan Capdevila [27]	NorthEast United
2014	David Trezeguet [28]	Pune City
2015	Roberto Carlos [29]	Delhi Dynamos
2015	Carlos Marchena [30]	Kerala Blasters
2015	Nicolas Anelka [31]	Mumbai City
2015	Simão Sabrosa [32]	NorthEast United
2015	Adrian Mutu [33]	Pune City
2016	Eiður Guðjohnsen [34]	Pune City

Marquee players by country

No. of players	Country	Players
4	France	David Trezeguet, Florent Malouda, Nicolas Anelka, Robert Pires
3	Brazil	Elano, Lúcio, Roberto Carlos
	Italy	Alessandro Del Piero, Marco Materazzi, Alessandro Nesta
	Spain	Carlos Marchena, Joan Capdevila, Luis García
2	Portugal	Hélder Postiga, Simão Sabrosa
1	England	David James
	Ireland	Robbie Keane
	Ivory Coast	Didier Zokora
	Mali	Mohamed Sissoko
	Northern Ireland	Aaron Hughes
	Norway	John Arne Riise
	Romania	Adrian Mutu
	Sweden	Freddie Ljungberg
	Uruguay	Diego Forlán
	Ghana	Asamoah Gyan
	Bulgaria	Dimitar Berbatov

See also

• List of foreign Indian Super League players

References

1. "Atletico De Kolkata signs Luis Garcia for Indian Super League". Economic Times. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
2. Crocker, Sam (7 October 2014). "Indian Super League: club-by-club guide to the inaugural season". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 24 June 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
3. Cunha, Peter (28 July 2015). "Don't expect top marquee names, though 'player-managers' may continue". Scroll. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
4. "Postiga signs with Atletico de Kolkata". Atletico de Kolkata (Twitter). 29 July 2015. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
5. Chandra, Shikharr (5 July 2015). "Delhi Dynamos announce the signing of Roberto Carlos as head coach". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 7 July 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
6. "Lucio joins FC Goa as marquee". Goal.com. 7 June 2015. Archived from the original on 9 June 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
7. "Portugal's Euro 2004 finalist Simao Sabrosa signs for NorthEast United". FirstPost. 25 June 2015. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
8. Jitendran, Nikhil (19 September 2015). "Taylor reveals Kerala Blasters' ISL preparations going well". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 20 September 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
9. "Mumbai City FC re-sign Nicolas Anelka". Times of India. 9 June 2015. Archived from the original on 18 November 2016. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
10. "Adrian Mutu joins Pune City as Indian Super League club's marquee signing". ESPN FC. 31 July 2015. Archived from the original on 3 August 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
11. Mergulhao, Marcus (16 January 2016). "ISL plans to get competitive marquees". Times of India. Archived from the original on 22 June 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
12. "Helder Postiga retained". Atletico de Kolkata (Twitter). Archived from the original on 6 July 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
13. "Chennaiyin FC sign John Arne Riise". Chennaiyin Football Club. August 18, 2016. Archived from the original on August 18, 2016. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
14. "Delhi Dynamos FC's Florent Malouda returns as the Marquee player". Indian Super League. 29 August 2016. Archived from the original on 2 September 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
15. "Lucio returns to FC Goa". FC Goa (Twitter). Archived from the original on 6 July 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
16. Charles, Andy (28 July 2016). "Aaron Hughes joins Kerala Blasters as marquee player". Sky Sports. Archived from the original on 1 August 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
17. "Diego Forlan signs for Mumbai City". Mumbai City FC (Twitter). Archived from the original on 6 July 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
18. "Didier Zokora marquee NorthEast United". NorthEast United FC (Twitter). Archived from the original on 6 July 2021. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
19. "Momo Sissoko signs as marquee". FC Pune City (Twitter). Archived from the original on 6 July 2021. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
20. "Atletico name Luis Garcia as marquee player, Habas as coach". www.indiansuperleague.com. Archived from the original on 19 February 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
21. "Meet the 8 marquee players of Indian Super League (ISL)". www.mykhel.com. Archived from the original on 19 February 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
22. "Chennaiyin FC retain Elano as marquee player". www.newsnation.in. Archived from the original on 19 February 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
23. "ISL: Delhi Dynamos on the brink of signing former Italy star Alessandro del Piero". www.firstpost.com. Archived from the original on 28 May 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
24. "Pires joins FC Goa as marquee player". www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Archived from the original on 25 September 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
25. "FOOTBALL Image ID: 158715259". www.thehinduimages.com. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
26. "ISL: Mumbai City FC confirm signing Freddie Ljungberg as marquee player". www.sportskeeda.com. Archived from the original on 19 February 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
27. "NORTHEAST UNITED FC SIGN JOAN CAPDEVILA AS THEIR MARQUEE PLAYER". www.shillonglajong.com. Archived from the original on 19 February 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
28. "FC Pune City name David Trezeguet as marquee player". www.zeenews.india.com. Archived from the original on 19 February 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
29. "Hero Indian Super League: Roberto Carlos to be marquee-player-cum-manager for Delhi Dynamos". The Economic Times . Archived from the original on 9 September 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
30. "Kerala Blasters top off their transfer business with marquee signing Carlos Marchena". www.thefangarage.com. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
31. "Mumbai City FC announces Nicolas Anelka as marquee player-cum-manager for ISL". www.economictimes.indiatimes.com. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
32. "Simao Sabrosa: NorthEast United announce Marquee Signing". www.essentiallysports.com. Archived from the original on 19 February 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
33. "FC Pune City sign former Chelsea winger Adrian Mutu as marquee footballer". www.indiatoday.in. Archived from the original on 19 February 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
34. "ISL 2016: FC Pune City's marquee player Eidur Gudjohnsen to miss entire season due to injury". www.essentiallysports.com. Archived from the original on 19 February 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2020.

External links

• Players from worldfootball.net