Football Season Guide

Racing Genk

In


Tobias Lawal (gk) LASK Linz; Daan Heymans (mid) Charleroi; Aziz Ouattara (mid) Mechelen – end of loan; Ayumu Yokoyama (att) Birmingham City; Andi Zeqiri (att) Standard Liege – end of loan;

Out


Mike Penders (r) (gk) Chelsea – end of loan; Christopher Bonsu Baah (r) (att) Al Qadsiah; Thomas Claes (mid) Zulte Waregem;

Genk feel bad after last season. They were the undisputed regular-season champions. Impressive run of wins saw them finish 9 points ahead of everyone else after 30 rounds. However, the halving of points before the play-offs and underwhelming form in March-April (4 wins, 1 draw and 5 defeats) saw the Blues not only miss out on the title but drop to third place in the final standings. Tolu Arokodare netted 21 league goals and led the way all season. Genk struggled defensively though, only 11 clean sheets in the 40 league matches. Despite the disappointing finale last term second-year manager Fink seems satisfied to keep the main core of players intact. Young goalie Pender was sold to Chelsea last summer. He still spent the season back on loan but it was known he’s moving to London now. Genk were ready and found their new number one in Austrian Lawal. The only other important player to leave is winger Bonsu Baah. Already added 2 like-for-like replacements in Yokoyama and Heymans. The latter had an excellent last season (14 goals and 8 assists), so Genk have the potential to be even more dangerous in attack this term. Playmaker Konstantinos Karetsas already started half of the games last season just age 16. He is now 17-years-old and it seems the Greek wonderkid is ready to become an outright regular. His potential and skill are impressive, so is that of another bright youngster Bangoura. Left-back Medina could become an important player too. He arrived in the winter and had difficulties settling in. Now he’s finally happy and the 20-year-old is seen as a big future star. Coach Fink has the depth to manage European schedule with domestic one. This should see Genk enjoy another strong season. Can they win their fifth title is the big question?

Target


Will be hungry to win the title after the disappointment last season. Have the squad to be serious contenders.