Football Season Guide

Tromsø were one of the success stories of last season as they got progressively better as the campaign went on and finished conformably in the top half of the standings, maximising their talent quite well while always being tough to beat. The challenge for Gaute Helstrup this season will be to build on the good work from last year and make this team an even more assured and coherent outfit that once again resides in the safer realms of mid-table and well clear of the relegation places. He will have to do it without his most impactful attacking players from last season as August Mikkalsen and Eric Kitolano both took the next step in their careers by moving to bigger clubs. Warren Kamanzi also made a big move to France after excelling in the second half of last season. It is something natural for Tromsø and they are used to that but they will be relying on some very young talent to fill these gaps in Hilmir Rafn Mikaelsson, coming from Venezia's youth squad, and Jakob Romsaas, who had a major breakthrough at 17 in the second division last season. Another new interesting addition is Vegard Erlien, fresh from scoring 15 goals in the division below in 2022. They are all interesting but very raw additions to the squad and the big question is whether they can contribute straight away. Helstrup can still count on the backone of his team in midfield and defence where players like Anders Jenssen and Ruben Jenssen remain pivotal but scoring goals will be a challenge for this team unless someone makes an unexpected leap right away. They still look pretty good for a mid-table finish after getting some much-needed confidence and experience last season and there are certainly a few worse teams than them right now.