Kerala Blasters FC marquee player manager David James and coach Trevor Morgan © ISLFormer Newcastle United striker Michael Chopra was snapped up by Kerala Blasters FC at the much-anticipated International Player Draft of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) held at a five-star hotel here today.A total of 49 international players from traditional footballing strongholds of Europe and South America as well as Asian, African and North American countries were drafted by the eight teams taking part in the ISL. Seven pre-selected international players were also announced by their respective clubs.Among the big names in the draft, ex-PSG, Bolton and Hull right-back Bernard Mendy went to Team Chennai in Round 1, while Bojan Djordjic, former Manchester United midfielder, was the first pick of Round 4, again to Chennai.The day began with the headline-grabbing announcement of a new club, to be based in Chennai, joining the ISL in place of the original team from Bengaluru. As the brain trust of the new club took their place in the draft room alongside the other teams, a few recognizable faces could be spotted, including stalwarts of Indian football Bhaichung Bhuttia and the Brazilian Jose Baretto, as well as former England goalkeeper David James, who was confirmed as the marquee player-manager for the Sachin Tendulkar-owned Kerala Blasters.With Mark Bolton, formerly the Sky Sports presenter for Spanish football, master of ceremonies for the day and former French international and Leeds United player Olivier Dacourt providing technical analysis of the draft picks in between rounds, the proceedings began with the two teams who were picking first and second, FC Pune City and Atlético de Kolkata (the draft order had been determined the previous evening), announcing players they had pre-selected prior to the draft, under the provision of each team being allowed to sign two international players outside of the draft structure. This procedure was followed throughout the draft, as Delhi Dynamos FC and NorthEast United FC had also pre-selected players. Thus, the first new pick of the draft was made by Kerala Blasters FC, going third in the first round, who used their chance to snap up Chopra.Later, Andy Knee, Vice President, IMG Football, who summed up the day’s proceedings, said, “The 49 players who went into the draft today have had close to 9,000 games in between them. It only speaks about the experience and the competition they will bring into the Hero ISL.”Anupam Dutta, CEO, Football Sports Development Pvt Ltd (joint venture between IMG-Reliance and Star India), said, “The international player draft today marks an important milestone in the Indian football. A league’s success depends on the clubs and we are happy to have equally excited and committed partners in this journey. And against the backdrop of the International Player Draft, let’s not forget that we have a very good set of Indian players in the league as well.”Nitin Kukreja, President, Star India, stated, “A milestone has been achieved. We will unleash a sporting revolution in India.”The full list of draft picks from ISL’s International Player Draft follows (names appear as per the clubs’ picks during the round 1 to 7):-FC Pune City: Bruno Cirillo, Emanuele Balardi, Ivan Boaldo Palacios, Saidou Mady Panandetigui, Omar Andres Rodriguez Martinez, Andres Felipe Gonzalez Ramirez, Park Kwang II.Atletico de Kolkata: Borja Fernandez, Jofre Mateu Gonzalez, Jose Miguel Gonzelez Rey, Arnal Llibert Conde Carbo, Sylvain Monsoreau, Jakub Podany, Apoula Edima Edel Bete. Kerala Blasters FC: Michael Chopra, Ian Hume, Victor Herrero Forcada, Erwin Spitzner, Pedro Adriano Veloso Gusmao, Cedric Hengbart, Raphael Romey. Team Mumbai: Diego Fernando Nadaya, Jan Stohanzl, Francisco Javier Fernandez Luque, Pavel Cmovs, Johann Letzelter, Andre Matos Dias Pereira, Ilias Pollalis. North East United FC: Issac Chansa, Cornell Glenn, Massamba Lo Sambou, Do Dong-Hyun, Guileherme Felipe de Castro, Tomas Josl, Luis Alfredo Yanes Padilla. Team Chennai: Bernard Mendy, Cristian Hidalgo Gonzalez, Gennaro Bracigliano, Bojan Djordjic, Bruno Augusto Pelissari de Lima, Jairo Andres Suarez Carvajal, Eduardo Silva Lerma. Team Goa: Miroslav Slepicka, Jan Seda, Bruno Filipe Tavares Pinheiro, Youness Bengelloun, Miguel Bruno Pereira Herlein, Gregory Arnolin, Edgar Carvalho Figueira Marcelino. Delhi Dynamos FC: Mads Junker, Morten Skoubo, Bruno Herrero Arias, Gustavo Marmentini dos Santos, Marek Cech, Pavel Elias, Henrique Dinis Oliviera Dias.