With Bashundhara Kings' comfortable lead at the top of the Bangladesh Premier League table at the end of the first phase, title rivals have apparently given up hope of catching up and hence focusing less on securing new players in the ongoing mid-term transfer window.

The window closes on April 7, a day before the second phase starts. Most of the clubs have already resumed their training after two to three weeks' break.

Kings are eight points clear of Sheikh Jamal and nine ahead of Abahani while Federation Cup runners-up Saif SC are in fourth position, 12 behind Kings.

Bashundhara Kings, too, have kept their faith on old guns mostly. The defending champions are going to rope in Eleta Kingsley, who has recently acquired his Bangladeshi citizenship. The club will release national discard Rabiul Islam, who looks headed for Mohammedan Sporting Club.

"Eleta is supposed to get Bangladeshi passport within a couple of days and we want to sign him to strengthen our forward line while Rabiul will be released on disciplinary grounds," Kings' technical director BA Jubair Nipu said recently.

Kings' South American strikers Raul Becerra and Robson Robinho scored 23 out of 32 goals for the club and the inclusion of Eleta will certainly improve their attacking options.

Sheikh Jamal, however, are not thinking of strengthening their attack, instead they are focusing on fortifying defence by signing centre-back Ariful Haque from Saif SC.

"We are satisfied with our foreign recruits, who, we think, will perform better in the second phase after recovering fully from injuries. However, we need to strengthen the defence which is marshalled by local players," said Sheikh Jamal manager Anwarul Karim Helal.

Six-time champions Abahani have been struggling upfront and are looking to replace Brazilian striker Francisco Rodrigues.

"We are trying to bring back Sunday Chizoba, who has already obtained his visa. He will be here within three to four days," said Abahani manager Satyajit Das Rupu, who is also expecting the injured players to be fully fit before the resumption of the second phase.

The significant move of the mid-term window is national captain Jamal Bhuiyan's return to Saif SC after a short stint with Kolkata Mohammedan.

"We signed Jamal for the rest of the season and are trying to rope in two expatriate footballers in the mid-term window," Saif SC's managing director Nasiruddin Chowdhury said, adding that they are not interested in signing new foreign players as Kings are far ahead of them.

Clubs like Sheikh Russel and Chattogram Abahani have virtually pinned their hopes on old guards even though Sheikh Russel are trying to rope in two former national players.

Mohammedan, who are likely to sign Rabiul from Bashundhara Kings, are replacing Abiola Nurat by another Nigerian forward, namely Yeasin, in the mid-term window.

For the lower-table teams, there is hardly any significant move except for bottom-placed Arambagh, who have already released all four of their foreign players and are searching for new ones.

"We wanted to sign four Tajikistani players. However, they did not get permission from their government. We are now trying to rope in African players playing in Myanmar League but still not sure whether we will get them," said Aramabgh's vice-president Ezaz Mohammad Jahangir, adding that if they can't sign any foreign players from beyond the boundary, they will sign foreigners currently playing inside Bangladesh.