Football Season Guide

Melbourne City

In


Liam Bonetig (def), transfer from Celtic. Takeshi Kanamori (att), transfer from Avispa Fukuoka. Elbasan Rashani (mid), free transfer. Besian Kutleshi (def), transfer from Western United.

Out


Steve Ugarkovic (sp) (mid), contract expired. Arion Sulemani (sp) (att), transfer to Perth Glory. Callum Talbot (sp) (def), contract expired. Harry Politidis (sp) (def), contract expired. James Jeggo (k) (mid), retired. Marco Tilio (k) (mid), loan expired. Yonatan Cohen (sp) (att), mutual termination.

Ended up winning the A-League last season despite finishing runners-up behind Auckland FC. Were handed a straightforward route to the silverware when paired with local rivals Melbourne Victory, who did their best but were floundering in the play-offs for various reasons. City went on to win it, and qualify for the Asian Champions League. Barring the departure of Tilio (which was unavoidable from a financial perspective) they did pretty well pre-season. Jeggo's retirement wasn't ideal but he hadn't played in months due to injury anyway, and they've got good options in young players to replace him now. Furthermore, they seem intent on playing injury-prone forward Leckie in more of a CM role so it shouldn't be an issue. Part of me thinks they'll end up regretting losing Talbot and Politidis though - very promising options in wide areas. They've not set the world alight with their pre-season recruits though. Bonetig is expected to impress in defence, as is Kutleshi in due course. Kanamori and Rashani lend a bit of experience and composure to their attack, and reduce the weight of expectation on youngsters like Rahmani and Caputo, which is important following the departure of Tilio and Cohen. They still have the problem of Vidmar being manager though. He's a bit too old-fashioned for this group, and seldom gets the best out of them. They've got enough match-winners to cope without Vidmar playing a more pivotal role but if another team emerges with more consistency then City may not be able to finish where they expect to. They should still do well this season, largely due to a lack of real competition, but they don't look sensational themselves.

Target


Club aim - 1-3 Realistic aim - 1-3