Football Season Guide

Imanol Alguacil’s reign at Real Sociedad came to a disappointing end as the team finished in 12th, their lowest position since 2012. It marked the end of a run of seasons in Europe, but also sparked a changing of the guard with star midfielder Martin Zubimendi following Alguacil out of the door for a club-record fee. Real Sociedad are yet to reinvest that money and show little sign of doing so. New coach Sergio Francisco has promise but was slammed as a cheap option by critics, despite winning promotion to Segunda with the club’s B team in his final game in charge of the reserves. In the transfer market, Gonçalo Guedes’ arrival adds attacking threat at a good price, seeking to help Mikel Oyarzabal who was the team’s top scorer on nine goals in the league last season as only bottom-placed Real Valladolid scored fewer goals. That was in spite of having the fourth-highest average possession at 54% last season, which helped them to maintain a strong defensive record with 13 clean sheets. The experienced Duje Caleta-Car arrives to replace Nayef Aguerd in a like-for-like swap in defence. Real Sociedad will start this new era with a different spine to their team, but in Oyarzabal and goalkeeper Alex Remiro, they have kept two key players to their hopes.