Who is the King of ISL?

Former FC Goa superstar and top goalscorer Ferran Corominas is the king of ISL (Indian Super League) for his outstanding three seasons with the Gaurs, scoring 48 goals.

Having prolific goalscorers like Sunil Chhetri, Roy Krishna, Ian Hume, Stiven Mendoza, Bartholomew Ogbeche and more in ISL, it is often asked, “who is the king of ISL“. However, the answer hasn’t been more straightforward. The Spanish forward could spend just three seasons in the Indian Super League but managed to impact anyone else. 

Why Ferran Corominas is the king of ISL

Corominas wins Golden Boot in ISL 2017-18

Spanish striker Ferran Corominas, better known as Coro, was a find of former FC Goa and Mumbai City FC manager Sergio Lobera. He had roped him from Cyprus football club Doxa Katokopias in the ISL 2017-18 season. Having finished at the bottom of the table in ISL 2016-17 season under the management of Brazil legend Zico, FC Goa had changed their recruitment approach by getting in the lesser-known Spanish coach Lobera, and Corominas was one of his first signings.

Ferrán Corominas had previously played for La Liga sides Espanyol and RCD Mallorca, but his experience in European football was no guarantee of his success in ISL. However, that perception changed fast when Corominas fired in 18 goals and assisted nine times in his first ISL season, which was the most number of goals in a single ISL season.

Corominas had started his ISL career by scoring a brace and putting an assist against Jamshedpur FC. He would score three more goals in the following two goals, including yet another brace against FC Pune City, to take his goal tally to eight in just three games.

He ended FC Goa’s league stages with an astonishing eight goals in the last five matches. Though FC Goa finished in the top four, they couldn’t go past the playoff stages. However, Corominas’ impact was evident.

Coro wins consecutive ISL Golden Boot; leads FC Goa to Super Cup

The Gaurs were convinced they were going in the right direction and continued to keep Corominas at the helm of their fluid gameplay. Sergio Lobera’s move didn’t disappoint as Corominas started ISL 2018-19 with four goals in the first five games.

Though not as prolific as his stats from last season, Ferran Corominas still managed to score braces against ATK, NorthEast United FC, Kerala Blasters, and FC Pune City in the ISL 2018-19 season. Corominas ended the season with ten assists and 15 goals, six of which came in the last five games that helped FC Goa qualify for the ISL playoffs for the second consecutive season.

Corominas ended ISL 2018-19 season as the highest goalscorer yet again. After FC Goa got eliminated in the playoffs, Corominas scored five goals in the 2019 Hero Super Cup to see his side lift the trophy.

Corominas leads FC Goa to AFC Champions League

By his third season, FC Goa felt the need to tweak a few things to get going. Numerous players that were instrumental to FC Goa’s rise over the last few seasons had left the club, and the lack of an ISL title also kept the fans frustrated.

However, it didn’t affect Corominas, who started his third season by scoring a goal and became the first player of the Indian Super League to do that. This time, Coro scored six goals in his first five games and 11 in the first ten league games before being sidelined with an injury.

After returning, Sergio Lobera had positioned him as number 10 than a centre-forward for the last few games, but Corominas managed three goals to end the ISL 20192-20 season with 14 goals and six assists.

Though the ISL title evaded FC Goa this time, they finished at the top of the ISL points table to lift the ISL League Winners Shield and became the first Indian club to qualify in the AFC Champions League.

After scoring 48 goals for FC Goa in 57 ISL matches,  Ferran Corominas was willing to continue his joy ride with the Gaurs. However, the lack of an attractive contract that “didn’t value him for his performances” saw the king of ISL leave FC Goa for Spanish side Atletico Baleares.

Though Ferran Corominas remains the king of ISL with 48 goals, the Indian football team and Bengaluru FC captain Sunil Chhetri trails him by just one goal and will soon overtake him. And while Hyderabad FC forward Bartholomew Ogbeche (44 goals), ATK Mohun Bagan striker Roy Krishna (33 goals), and many more are also in the queue, neither could attain the star status of Coro.

Who is the king of ISL 2020-21?

The King of ISL 2020-21 would be ATK Mohun Bagan striker Roy Krishna. Though Mumbai City FC striker Igor Angulo had won the Golden Boot in the ISL 2020-21 season, he was joint highest-scorer with Roy Krishna and received the award only because he had tallied 14 goals in two games less.

However, Krishna is the king of ISL 2020-21 for his sheer consistency in the league. Since Ferran Corominas left following the ISL 2018-19 season, the Fijian international has been the joint ISL top scorer (15 goals) alongside Nerijus Valskis and Bartholomew Ogbeche to win the ISL 2019-20 title for ATKMB and repeat the feat alongside Angulo in ISL 2020-21 season when ATKMB finished runners-up.