Cheick Traore (def) (EA Guingamp - loaned back for season)
Chateauroux will be determined to consolidate on their return to Ligue 2 after two seasons away. The club from central France paid the price for years of sub-standard performances when they were relegated to the third-tier Championnat National in 2015. They had endured seven consecutive finishes between 14th and 18th before finally sinking, ending a run of 17 straight seasons in the second division.
They won the the third-tier title last season, although things did not go completely smoothly. Coach Michel Estevan was sacked late in the campaign, with Olivier Saragaglia seeing the team to promotion. He has since returned to his role as an assistant, with Jean-Luc Vasseur appointed as coach during the close season. Vasseur has experience at this level - he was in charge at Paris FC during their ill-fated one-season sojourn two campaigns ago. Vasseur, a former youth coach at Paris Saint-Germain, is tasked with keeping the team up and helping develop young talents at a club that has produced fine players in the past such as Florent Malouda.
"I had a great sabbatical year, travelling a lot and learning," said Vasseur of what he did last season. "There is a transition to go through with a new coach, playing in a new league and with changes to the squad. We are trying to keep a similar backbone to last season. At the beginning, survival will be the priority, but we don't want to always be looking over our shoulders."
Vasseur, who also had a short and disappointing stint with Stade de Reims in Ligue 1, has seen two talented young players join on loan from Nice in goalkeeper, Said Benrahma, and the goalkeeper Mouez Hassen. More depth will be required, though, even if the full-back Cheick Traore has returned to the Stade Gaston-Petit on loan after signing a five-year deal with top-flight side Guingamp. Chateauroux will replace their synthetic pitch with a proper grass one for this campaign, although it is on the road that they must drastically improve compared to previous years if they are to avoid more struggles.
