Football Season Guide

Despite not having a great season Basaksehir managed to finish in top 4 to qualify for European football. Things could have been different if Basaksehir had started the previous season with manager Belezoglu rather than bringing him in after 8 matches. Continuing with Belezoglu for this year, Basaksehir has followed a transfer policy of keeping the core of the defence while replacing the departures from the other positions with a couple of experienced players alongside mid-aged talents into the squad. In defence, central defender Duarte was kept in the squad after his loan period has ended and Ahmed Touba was brought in from Eredivisie as his potential duo. With Junior Caicara and Lucas Lima also staying in the squad and many support players joining to cover for suspensions/injuries, defence should be one of the least concerns of Belezoglu. The midfield and the attack suffered the most departures with last season’s regular defensive midfielder Cigerci, creative attacker Gulbrandsen, scorer winger Trezeguet, central midfielders Ucan and Pizzi all leaving the team. To replace, experienced high-talent players like Mesut Ozil and Lucas Biglia were brought in alongside the young wingers Chouiar and Patryk Szysz. Basaksehir was never able to successfully replace main goal threat Visca’s departure last January and it still seems to be the case this year as well. Mainly transferring in mediocre players and keeping the majority of the squad, Basaksehir is not good enough for this year’s title race. Even another season of European football might be in danger if the quality of attack does not improve.