Why NorthEast United look good

There are clubs that spend like Real Madrid and Barcelona and there are others who try to be competitive. After three years in India and at the beginning of his journey with FC Goa, that was how Manolo Marquez evaluated the Indian Super League (ISL). For Marquez, Mohun Bagan Super Giant and Mumbai City FC were the top dogs.

Things have changed since. Marquez is the head coach at Mumbai this term but the club aren’t among the heaviest spenders. Mohun Bagan retain that tag with Bengaluru FC and East Bengal being the others who have loosened purse strings more than most. When Marquez made the comment, East Bengal were near or at the bottom of the standings. They went into this season as defending champions and India’s only representative in the Asian Champions League 2. That has taken some activity in the transfer market over the years.

Joining on a free

Amid all this, NorthEast United began a rebuild. One of the original eight, they were used to bottom-of-the-table or lower-half finishes with the odd semi-final berth. In 2023-24, Juan Pedro Benali’s first season in charge as head coach and Mandar Tamhane’s as CEO, NorthEast United played the Durand Cup semi-final. Meghalaya Tourism, Coal India and Indian Oil came on board as sponsors and they even have a company from Isle of Mann on their shirts.

Next term, they won the Durand Cup and finished third in ISL. In 2025-26, NorthEast United retained the title but, having loaned their best player in a bid to cut costs, finished ninth in a truncated season.

Alaaeddine Ajaraie’s back and scoring. He was involved in three of the four goals against Kerala Blasters. Benali is the league’s longest-serving coach. NorthEast United have retained the core of Indian players and strengthened the defence by signing Pramveer, Nikhil Barla and Abdul Rabeeh. They are among the five new Indian players to join the club, all of them on a free. That is also true for the four foreigners they have signed.

Without getting into specifics, Tamhane said the club operates well within the salary cap. ISL capped the players’ salaries at ₹18 crore with provision to sign two players outside the budget. And yet, between 2023 and now, the number of India players across age-groups has gone up to 18, said Tamhane.

An early marker

NorthEast began with two wins, one of them against Mohun Bagan Super Giant. That can be an important marker early in the season. Ajaraie will be on the books till June 2028. His first goal against Blasters came by staying on-side before bursting into space to meet a long ball from the back. The second was a powerful drive on the turn. The Moroccan scored 23 goals in 25 matches to win the golden boot and the golden ball awards in 2024-25. He is crucial to the team’s chances but this time they also have more options when it comes to Indians.

A good start can go a long way in the race to the play-off round. This is a short league and as East Bengal showed in 2024-25, starting trouble can be too difficult to turn around. At some point, NorthEast not completing their quota of six foreigners could hurt. But they can sign one in January.

NorthEast, who travel to Odisha next, played the Durand Cup and the IFA Shield. Inter Kashi had one training session before ISL started, Mumbai City FC’s pre-season was hit by not getting the kind of friendlies they would have liked, Kerala Blasters had to deal with the distraction of a takeover; and Churchill Brothers with settling-down pangs. If NorthEast are able to use these to their advantage, this could be the season where they are in the same bracket as the Kolkata teams and Bengaluru FC.