Football Season Guide

Westerlo were impressive last season in the second division as they led the standings from start to finish and ended up as champions with something to spare as they return to the top-flight for a first time since 2017. Now Jonas de Rock is looking to build on and try to build a competitive squad for the new season as the Yellow and Blues face a massive challenge in trying to make sure that they are not there for just one season. They have already been quite active in the transfer window and have new signings ready to be regulars in the starting 11 across every department, from goalie to number 9. Bryan Reynolds, Griffin Yow and Ravi Tagir are all young players who have a lot of upside and may become key performers. Halil Akbunar and Sinar Bolat are more experienced players who should bring more experience to the group. There are already established and pretty strong players in the promotion-winning squad like Romas Neustadter, Tuur Dierckx and Lukas van Eenoo that should be able to hold their own. One area of concern for De Rock is the lack of a reliable striker, with Macedonian Edon Daci the main scorer last season with ten goals. Whether he can hold his own against tougher opposition remains to be seen and the hopes are that young new striker Dorgeles Nene will bring much-needed competition and step up. Overall, the squad already has the look of being pretty rounded and ready for the campaign ahead, with more signings likely in the coming weeks, and Westerlo should be able to hold their own and stay in mid-table upon promotion.