Football Season Guide

In the two seasons with Ivan Juric at the helm, Hellas Verona obtained two very positive top 10 finishes and even flirted with European football, something incredible considering the players the coach had to work with. In the last campaign, Juric found himself leading a group of inexperienced youngsters, but they nevertheless managed to play great football and only failed to make the grade once they ran out of gas. Tired of seeing his requests for new investment fall on deaf ears, the Croatian coach decided to quit for Torino. He was replaced by Eusebio Di Francesco, whose efforts with Sampdoria and Cagliari have been disastrous. Given their tight budget, Hellas Verona saw an array of players leaving the club during the summer as their loan deals had come to an end. Among them, only the versatile left-back/centre-back Dimarco will be missed, not least for his decisive goals (5 last season). In order to fund their transfer campaign, Hellas also had to make a few sales: starting goalie Silvestri has gone, but he will be replaced by a good alternative, Montipò, and the young centre-back Lovato. In terms of new arrivals, Hellas saw a few youngsters returning from loan while the likes of Magnani, Barak and Ceccherini had their loans turned into permanent deals. Besides them, Hongla could represent an alternative for the midfield while Frabotta, from Juventus, could provide some depth on the left. With Lasagna currently injured, Hellas are still looking for a striker while they are also hoping for Ilic's return from Manchester City. Otherwise, they risk being short in the midfield, with 35-year-old Veloso quite injury-prone.