There are strikers who score goals, and then there’s Ferran Corominas.

By the time he left Indian shores, he hadn’t just rewritten the record books. He’d redefined what it meant to be a foreign striker in the Indian Super League (ISL).

Efficient, elegant and always effective.

FC Goa’s attacking storm

Corominas’ ISL journey began in 2017 but he arrived without the kind of hype we’ve come to expect from foreign signings. He was a striker who had La Liga experience and was in the twilight of his career, aged 34, when he came to India.

Then, boom. Corominas struck 18 goals and produced five assists in his very first season. Back then, he set a new record for most goals scored and most goal contributions by any player in a single season.

No one had seen finishing like that of Corominas before. He wasn’t the fastest, the strongest or the flashiest but he read the game better than most, always arriving at the right place and having the ability to pick out teammates effortlessly. That was his superpower.

Three memorable seasons

From 2017 to 2020, Corominas played three seasons with FC Goa, and he elevated his game with each passing year.

Whether it was peeling away from defenders or calmly rolling the ball past the goalkeeper, Corominas made it look effortless. You’d rarely see him scoring screamers from long range, but he was an absolute menace in the box. One that was cool, clinical and calculated.

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And he was remarkably consistent. The Spaniard won Golden Boots in back-to-back seasons, recording double-digit goals in each of his three seasons with the Gaurs. He made a habit of showing up when it mattered most with minimum fuss while producing goals, game after game.

Corominas netted 16 goals in his second season in India, but his goal contributions numbers remained the same as his debut season, with him having a hand in 23 goals.

He produced 14 goals and four assists in his final season in India and although that output was relatively lower than what he produced two seasons ago, his goal conversion rate of 46.67% was the best in his three seasons compared to 34.04% (2018-19) and 40% (2017-18).

While FC Goa back in 2017-18 set a new record for most goals in a league stage with 42 strikes, they scored 36 the following season. Then in the 2019-20 season, they smashed their own record by netting 46 goals, which saw them win the Shield, thanks to Corominas, who finished as their top scorer for three straight campaigns.

The striker who made others better

Corominas was more than just a scorer. He understood movement, space and timing. He'd drop deep to link play, drift wide to open channels or pull defenders away so someone else could score.

Indian players like Brandon Fernandes, Seiminlen Doungel, Manvir Singh and Jackichand Singh all flourished around him. And with Coro in the side, FC Goa didn’t just have a finisher but a fulcrum.

For young Indian players, training with him every day meant learning the small details that often separate a good forward from a great one. His influence rubbed off quietly.

In a different league

Plenty of foreign strikers have come to the ISL. Some impressed, some struggled, and a few left their mark.

But in a league where many attacking players often relied on bursts of speed or physicality, he relied on reading the game a few seconds faster than everyone else.

Even now, years after he last played his last match in India, Corominas’ name comes up when we talk about the league’s best-ever forwards. Not because he broke records or won accolades. But because of what he did on the pitch: delivering Matchweek after Matchweek, season after season.

He left India with nearly 50 goals to his name. But more than the number, it’s the memory that remains. The way he would glide into the box. The way he’d finish before the keeper even realised he was in danger. The way he made scoring look like second nature.

And even now, his legacy continues to shape how we judge foreign forwards in the league.

If you want to know what excellence looked like in many years before in the ISL, look no further than Corominas. He didn’t just raise the bar but set a new standard for foreign strikers in the league.