Football Season Guide

At their fourth campaign in Serie A since returning from the Serie B in 2022/2023, last season Lecce managed to reach salvation almost at the very end. In fact, their initial weeks were utterly disastrous, as they only succeeded winning 1 out of 9 games. They subsequently proved capable of pulling out the occasional win but they even faced momentary crises, like the one that saw them winless between the end of December and the beginning of February. Things became dramatic between weeks 26 and 32 as they lost 6 times and dropped again in the relegation zone. The management stuck with coach Di Francesco, whose recent past was represented by a collection of failures, and they eventually pushed towards safety, closing the season with only 1 defeat in the final 6 games. Thus, they closed the campaign in the 17th spot, 4 points above Cremonese and relegation. With just 28 goals scored and no player with more than 5 goals to their name, Lecce held one of the poorest attacks of the Serie A, while their defence conceded 50 times, faring better than the 3 relegated sides and not many more. Di Francesco thus earned himself a confirmation at the helm but the management were not particularly active during the summer. Surprisingly enough, the defence was not touched, as no players left or arrived. On the other hand, the midfield went through some changes: starting Ramadani was sold to Corum as they have a valid replacement in Gandelman, who arrived last winter. Moreover, they lost Helgason and Marchwinski, who did not play much last season due to injuries. With Kaba and Maleh returning from loans, they theoretically need no further replacements. Up-front, they lost back-up striker Camarda, who returned to Milan after spending most of the past campaign out, and they replaced him with Geubbels, who made his name while at Paris FC. Moreover, starting winger Banda is also considering a move while Sottil left for Fiorentina.