Football Season Guide

Eupen enjoyed a somewhat mixed last season, at times looking extremely impressive in attack but also struggling at the back and going through some rather rough patches as well. That lack of consistency was to be expected from a very young team but they impressed quite a few people overall and brought the talents of some superb players to the attention of the wider public. Henry Onyekuru was the big star of their season and the Nigerian earned a move to Premier League side Everton, even if he will be still in Belgium with Anderlecht in the coming campaign. Jordi Condom has lost a fair few of his important players from the squad but will rely on stalwarts like Luis Garcia and Hendrik van Crombrugge to carry on the mentality from last season and help the new players integrate. Eupen will be once again mostly aiming to blood and give a chances to young stars from the ASPIRE academy but they also brought back one of their former players in Akram Afif, who struggled to do much at Villareal last season but will now look to recapture his former form. Nicolas Verdier arrived from Mechelen and is expected to be the new main man in attack after the departures of Onyekuru and Mamadou Sylla, who scored a combined 34 goals last season. Nils Schouterden and Jordan Loties look like quality additions as well but overall Eupen do not look like a side ready to make the next step. Anything more than a respectable finish in mid-table would be a surprise for a club that mostly aims to develop young players and is not that focused on getting higher positions in the table.