Chennaiyin FC unveil five new foreign signings for ISL 2026-27
Chennaiyin FC have overhauled their overseas roster ahead of the Indian Super League 2026-27 campaign, the club revealed in an update published on 2026-09-22. The Marina Machans replaced all six foreign players from 2025-26 with five new signings as they prepare for the upcoming season.
The changes follow a troubled 2025-26 ISL run in which Chennaiyin collected 9 points from 13 games and finished 13th in the table. Clifford Miranda has been retained as head coach while the club released domestic players including Farukh Choudhary, Pritam Kotal and Mandar Rao Desai and recruited a number of younger Indian players. Alongside those domestic adjustments, Chennaiyin discarded their previous foreign contingent and rebuilt it with five international additions.
The club continued a tradition of signing attacking midfield talent by bringing in Madih Talal; past Chennaiyin performers in that role have included Elano Blumer, Bruno Pelissari, Raphael Augusto, Rafael Crivellaro, Abdenasser El Khayati and Connor Shields. Talal, 29, arrives with ISL experience, having registered 9 goals and 13 assists in the league over the last three seasons, and his announcement drew a strong reception on social media. The article notes there have been injury concerns around Talal in the past two seasons and states, "If Talal manages to keep himself fit, he will become Chennaiyin’s most crucial player as the season progresses."
To address last season’s scoring drought—Chennaiyin managed just 9 goals in 13 league games—the club signed Ramon Tanque on loan from Persib Bandung, the Indonesia Super League winners. Ramon is 28 and scored 8 goals and assisted 2 in 28 league appearances for Persib; his most prolific campaign came with Visakha FC in 2024-25 when he scored 21 goals in 28 appearances.
Midfield reinforcement came with the addition of Nikola Stojanovic, 31, who has been playing in India since 2021 for Mohammedan SC, Gokulam Kerala and Inter Kashi in the I-League before moving to the ISL with Jamshedpur FC last season. Stojanovic featured in all 13 of Jamshedpur’s ISL matches, recording 2 goals and 2 assists, and contributed defensively with 22 tackles and 11 interceptions. The article states, "Nikola’s signing will be important for Chennaiyin as he will add much needed reliability to their midfield."
Defensive experience was bolstered by signing Portuguese centre-back Nuno Reis, who played every game in the 2025-26 ISL season for Mumbai City FC, appearing in all 13 matches as that side missed out on the title by just one point. The report references Reis’s background with Portugal youth teams and prior stints in European leagues and with Melbourne City FC, and says, "Chennaiyin FC desperately need a leader to marshal their defense, and Nuno Reis could be the missing piece of the defensive puzzle for the Marina Machans."
The final foreign addition is Emmanuel Imanishimwe, a 31-year-old defender capable of playing at left-back or centre-back who has experience in Europe and Africa and has been called up by the Rwanda national team for the upcoming international break. The piece concludes, "Given that Emmanuel is in the prime of his career, expect him to add some much needed defensive depth to the Chennaiyin backline."
Chennaiyin FC have signed five foreign players for the ISL 2026-27 season: Madih Talal, Ramon Tanque, Nikola Stojanovic, Nuno Reis and Emmanuel Imanishimwe, with Madih Talal, Nikola Stojanovic and Nuno Reis noted as having previously played in the Indian Super League.