Football Season Guide

Nancy finished higher than they perhaps deserved to last season after a very disappointing start. As such, Jean-Louis Garcia was allowed to depart in the summer, with Daniel Stendel taking over. While he impressed at Barnsley, his latest stint came with Hearts in Scotland, where he oversaw the club’s relegation from the Premiership, although that coincided with the Covid-19 lockdown so perhaps reflected unfairly on his talents – especially as results seemed to be improving. With Nancy, he finds a squad that is cutting costs as it grapples with financial difficulties. As such, they have lost several key figures over the summer. A bloated squad has seen numerous experienced players depart, including Ande Dona Ndoh and Ousmane Cissokho, who were on big wages but not producing. More crucially, dynamos of the team from last season, Amine Bassi and Kenny Rocha Santos have both gone, while highly promising young centre-back Christopher Wooh has gone to Lens. While it has given some relief to get wages off the books, that they have gone on free transfers is a major blow as these were among their most valuable assets. Top scorer Mickael Biron was sold to Oostende in Belgium but has returned on loan, giving Nancy a potent scorer through the middle. Similarly, former Dijon attacker Mamadou Thiam has joined up from the Belgian side along with ex-Bordeaux defender Thomas Basilia. Only Shaquil Delos has otherwise arrived to strengthen their ranks, which have substantially less depth in them than last year. If they were to suffer the type of injury crisis they endured during 2020-21, they could find themselves quickly in trouble. Indeed, they face going into the season depleted particularly in central defence. With this in mind, Giovanni Haag’s presence will be vital, although he is another player who could depart. Nancy’s youth setup, which has furnished them with some important players of late, could well come into play again. Pre-season performances have been encouraging, with a win over Dijon and an entertaining loss against Metz.