Football Season Guide

Molde enjoyed a pretty good last season without really looking like a serious contender but they will be motivated to progress further and get back to the years when they were taking on Rosenborg toe to toe and beating them for the big prizes. Yet MFK have not enjoyed the best of transfer windows and the loss of main striker Björdn Sigurdarsson, having bagged 16 goals last season, will be tough to overcome. The man earmarked as his replacement is Daniel China Chukwu, returning to the club after unsuccessful spells in China and Poland. He is a few years older and definitely slower compared to his previous spell with Molde and it is hard to see the Nigerian striker really having a major impact in the season ahead. Kristoffer Haugen is the other major addition and is expected to become a regular at left-back after the retirement of Knut Olav Rindarøy at the end of last season. But Ole Gunnar Solskjaer still has a pretty good squad in terms of balance and some promising players that could hopefully kick on and become more consistent. The pick of the bunch in that regard is Babacar Sarr but Thomas Among and Stian Gregersen also showed signs last season that they could develop into excellent players for the team in the coming years. Keeping stalwarts Ruben Gabrielsen, who was expected to move to MLS, and Vegard Forren at the back is also a major positive and as a whole the team has a pretty good outlook and looks in decent shape as they aim to consolidate their position as at least the clear second best team in the division, even if Brann may well be a threat for them in this regard. It has been a mixed bag of preseason friendly results, losing to Bodø/Glimt and Lillestrøm, drawing with Vålerenga, and defeating neighbours Kristiansund and Dinamo Bres from Belarus.