Football Season Guide

On paper one of the biggest clubs in the league, Nancy have failed to threaten a return to Ligue 1 after relegation in 2017. Last season, they struggled to finish in 12th, although they were hampered by injury problems to important figures. Jean-Louis Garcia remains in charge, with the coach seeking a solution to their inability to win matches. An inability to take chances prevented them from faring better last season, and to that end they concentrated their efforts on finding an offensive solution. With little money to spend, Mickael Biron has arrived from Epinal, a fourth-tier side. A better bet is Mehdi Merghem, who is a talented midfielder strangely overlooked at Guingamp last term, though in pre-season he has been playing in a deep-lying role. Vagner and Makhtar Gueye, their top scorers last season with eight and seven respectively, have both left. Otherwise, they are leaning on the players who flopped so badly last season, including Ande Dona Ndoh, who should be capable of scoring regularly at this level. Playmaker Amine Bassi will have a big role to play – assuming he is not sold, which may well happen – while gaps in the defensive midfield and defensive areas are going to have to be filled in by youth players, the club have admitted. Warren Bondo, who has just turned 16, is the most promising of these. Several experienced defenders have been allowed to depart, including Herve Lybohy, Loris Nery and Vincent Muratori, stripping away much of their depth. They do still have two excellent full-backs in Saliou Ciss and Souleymane Karamoko, who are big attacking threats (Ciss scored six in 21 league games last term). In the heart of the rearguard they are set to rely on the fitness of Abdelhamid El Kaoutari and Ernest Seka, both of whom are the wrong side of 30. Having started pre-season as early as June 22, fitness should not be an issue for the bulk of the squad.