ISL 2017: Top 5 players likely to win the Golden Boot this season

India's most popular football tournament, the Indian Super League (ISL), is set to kick-start its new installment on November 17th. With the tournament expanded to ten teams this season, there will be new rivalries that will rise and fans will witness some top-quality football action.

Teams have spent some huge money to get hold of some truly world-class players this season and big-name strikers like Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov were signed by ISL teams this year. Indian players like Sunil Chhetri, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Balwant Singh all have made their return to the ISL this season as well, and viewers can get set for some serious attacking displays this season.

Let us now look at five likely contenders for the Golden Boot award!

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#5 Éverton Santos - Mumbai City FC

Everton Santos, the 31-year-old Brazilian striker, is coming to the Indian Super League with a vast amount of experience from around the world. Santos has played for some big Brazilian teams like Fluminense FC, Corinthians and has also played for European giants Paris Saint-Germain, before featuring for Korean teams FC Seoul and Seongnam FC.

He has scored more than 60 goals from 128 games across all the leagues he played. With players like Thiago Santos and Balwant Singh also featuring in attack, we can expect a lot of goals from the Brazilian striker.

#4 Sunil Chhetri - Bengaluru FC

Indian Captian Sunil Chhetri

The Indian captain had been on loan to Mumbai City FC for the last two seasons, but his name did not appear on the scoresheet more often than not due to injury and international commitments.

This season, he will turn out for debutants Bengaluru FC, for whom he has previously scored 47 goals from 108 games. He has a total 151 career goals and is one of the most prolific scorers in international football as well.

Chhetri has been excellent for the past year for Bengaluru FC and helped the team reach the AFC Cup Zonal finals. If he can continue his form in the Indian Super League, he is surely one of the contenders for the Golden Boot.

#3 Robbie Keane - ATK

Ireland star Robbie Keane

Dublin-born Robbie Keane is certainly one of the biggest names that will feature in the ISL this season. Keane joins ATK with a vast amount of top-level experience, having played for some big clubs like Internazionale, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Celtic.

Having scored more than 300 club goals in his career and with an extraordinary scoring record for his national team, he is a strong contender for the Golden Boot. Under his former team-mate Teddy Sheringham and partners like Robin Singh, Jayesh Rane and Eugeneson Lyngdoh Keane, he can surely take ATK to a third ISL title.

#2 Marcelinho - FC Pune City

Marcelinho played for Delhi Dynamos

Previous season's Golden Boot winner Marcelinho is surely a strong contender for the award this season also. Last season, the Brazilian striker wore the Delhi Dynamos jersey and scored 10 goals from 14 matches.

He will play under Ranko Popovi? for the FC Pune City this season and the fans would hope that Marcelinho can recreate his form this year too. With players like Emiliano Alfaro and Kean Lewis by his side, he can surely get back the golden boot.

#1 Iain Hume - Kerala Blasters FC

Iain Hume played for Kerala Blasters in the first season

The all-time top scorer in Indian Super League, Iain Hume will again wear the yellow jersey once again this season. The Canadian has scored 23 goals from 46 games in the Indian Super League and this will be his fourth season in the league, which means he is quite familiar with it.

Also, Hume has some excellent players like Dimitar Berbatov, Milan Singh and C.K. Vineeth in his team, who will help him in scoring goals and take him to the top of the scoring charts.