Football Season Guide

Bordeaux had a catastrophic 2020-21 season, which ended with the club flirting with relegation and ending the season in administration. Consequently, the summer has not been without its challenges. For the second season in succession, Bordeaux have gone through much of pre-season without a head coach in place, with this only remedied less than a fortnight out from the start of the season as Switzerland boss Vladimir Petkovic took charge of the side. Meanwhile, the arrival of new owners have stabilised the club financially, though to what degree they will be active in the transfer market this summer remains questionable. Certainly, they have worked to trim the size of their squad, with flop arrivals Hatem Ben Arfa and Nicolas de Preville notably departing on free transfers. Youssouf Sabaly is another first-team player to be allowed to leave, while Jean Michael Seri, who was disappointing in midfield, returned to Fulham after a flat loan spell. Bordeaux have not moved to sign any first-team players, with Issouf Sissokho arriving from Mali as their sole fresh face. While several players have come back from loans, Ruben Pardo and Josh Maja are the only ones who may be used. With Benoit Costil in goal and the experienced pair of Laurent Koscielny and Mexer in defence, Bordeaux are likely to seek improvements in the full-back areas before the start of the season, both of which are short of quality. In terms of the midfield, with Otavio fit again and Toma Basic a player of some potential, Bordeaux are reasonably well covered – especially if Pardo stays. However, depth is an issue. Yacine Adli, for example, was more useful in a more advanced role. Going forward there are also issues. Remi Oudin has been disappointing since arriving from Reims while Samuel Kalu was their best winger last term but spent much of the season injured. While there are options at centre forward, none are particularly proven. Hwang Ui-jo tended to play in bursts but otherwise they have players still too raw or, in the case of Jimmy Briand, simply getting too old.