Gone are the days when Indian Super League teams used to sign marquee foreign players for a month or two.
Over the years, we have seen foreign players play a huge part in shaping their team's season. A few of them have become bonafide legends, playing multiple seasons and starring for their teams.
As the new ISL season kicks off on Friday, with Kerala Blasters taking on East Bengal, here's a look at five important foreign players in the league.
Bart Ogbeche
Country: Nigeria
Team: Hyderabad FC
Position: Centre forward
Pre-season form: Pretty good. He has five goals from six matches in Durand Cup.
Ogbeche is goals guaranteed. He is the league's all-time leading goal-scorer, with 53 goals in 77 matches. Thanks to his exploits last season - 18 goals in 20 matches - Hyderabad made it to the playoffs, then the final and became champions, all for the first time.
Hyderabad are not outright favourites this season so head coach Manolo Marquez will need his 38-year-old talisman to be at his best. Ogbeche is the most important player in the team and a slight drop in form could jeopardise the team's campaign.
Roy Krishna
Country: Fiji
Team: Bengaluru FC
Position: Centre forward
Pre-season form: Solid. Scored three goals and played a key role in helping Bengaluru FC win their first Durand Cup title.
A new team this season for Krishna and his presence is certainly a shot in the arm in terms of challenging for the title. Ever since Miku left, Bengaluru have missed a proper goal-scoring forward - it showed in their league performances over the last two seasons. This will be his fourth season in the league so there's plenty of experience to count on. He scored 36 goals in 60 matches and has 18 assists to his name. If Sunil Chhetri and Krishna do their thing, they'll take some stopping.
Greg Stewart
Country: Scotland
Team: Mumbai City FC
Position: Attacking midfielder
Pre-season form: The best player in the Durand Cup. Scored six goals in seven matches as Mumbai City FC reached the final.
Mumbai City flexed their financial muscle to sign last season's best player Stewart from Jamshedpur FC, a team Stewart had driven to the ISL Shield.
Arguably the most complete player in the league, Stewart can score from half chances, is brilliant with freekicks, can pick incisive passes and is always ready to put in the hard yards. Mumbai will take some stopping with Stewart driving them on.
Hugo Boumous
Country: Morocco
Team: ATK Mohun Bagan
Position: Attacking midfielder
Pre-season form: Not great. Just one assist in Durand Cup as ATKMB failed to qualify for the knockouts.
Boumous was the star signing for ATK Mohun Bagan last season and he played his part as the team made it to the playoffs after finishing third on the table. He played 17 matches and had five goals and five assists.
After a difficult pre-season, which also included getting knocked out of the AFC Cup, Juan Ferrando will be feeling the pressure. They lost key players in Krishna and David Williams, and the frontline is mostly made of Indian players. This is where Boumous needs to step up, with his creative abilities and experience. He can be the difference maker if he plays to his strengths... if he can find consistency.
Dimitrios Diamantakos
Country: Greece
Team: Kerala Blasters
Position: Centre forward
Pre-season form: Did not play Durand Cup as Kerala Blasters sent their reserves.
The Blasters brought in Diamantakos and Apostolos Giannou to replace Alvaro Vazquez and Jorge Pereyra Diaz - the two had been a crucial part of last season's run to the final.
Diamantakos comes to the ISL from Croatian top flight club HNK Hajduk Split. The 29-year-old had earlier played for Olympiacos and represented the senior Greece team at the international level. There's no dearth in terms of experience and goals, but this will be his first season in the league, and adapting will be his main focus. He has the pace to make runs behind the defenders and is an aerial threat. On paper, looks like a perfect man for Ivan Vukomanovic's preferred 4-4-2 (or 4-2-2-2) formation.