Eight of the 10 Indian Super League (ISL) franchises signed eight foreigners to be a part of their roster for the upcoming season. Only Delhi Dynamos and Kerala Blasters roped in seven foreign players, which was the minimum number each club had to sign on or before September 12.
However, the two above mentioned franchises do have an opportunity to rope in the eighth foreign signing in January 2018.
The ISL rules stipulate that the clubs can sign foreign players between January 1st and 31st. The point to note here is that the winter transfer window officially opens in India only on January 16th and shuts on February 15th.
What this means is that a club can only sign/register a foreign player between January 1st and 15th 2018, i.e. before the transfer window opens, if his previous contract expired on or before August 31st.
Those players whose contract expired after August 31st or need to be loaned from a foreign club can only be signed once the January transfer window opens in India.
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It must also be brought to light that by January 16th, each ISL franchise would have at least played eight-to-nine games in the season already.
Whether Delhi Dynamos or Kerala Blasters exercise the option to sign the eighth foreign player or not remains to be seen.
