Football Season Guide

Djurgarden

In


Per Kristian Bratveit (gk) Haugesund; Jacob Zetterstrom (gk) Lidingo; Aslak Fonn Witry (def) Ranheim; Elliot Kack (def) Start; Astrit Ajdarevic (mid) AEK Athens; Adam Wiberg (att) Gefle; Mohamed Buya Turay (att) Sint-Truiden – on loan; Amadou Jawo (att) Frej – end of loan;

Out


Andreas Isaksson (r) (gk) end of career; Jonas Olsson (r) (def) released; Kerim Mrabti (r) (mid) Birmingham City; Aliou Badji (r) (att) Rapid Wien; Niklas Gunnarsson (sp) (def) released; Oscar Jonsson (gk) Karlstad; Marcus Hansson (mid) Brommapojkarna – on loan; Joseph Ceesay (mid) Dalkurd – on loan; Omar Eddahri (att) Sundsvall;

After winning the Swedish Cup early last season Djurgarden lacked motivation in the league once losing touch with leaders, but in 2019 their main goal is to secure high finish in Allsvenskan. In the winter appointed the long-serving Sirius manager Kim Bergstrand in charge in hope that his ability to overachieve with modest squads will be replicated with Djurgarden’s group of players. The new boss had to act quickly as 4 regulars left the team and he focused his transfer activity mainly into neighbouring Norway from where 4 players were signed. Bratveit comes as the new goalkeeper, while adding 2 new full-backs should allow Djurgarden to often mix formations with 4 and 5 at the back. Ajdarevic is seen as very good signing for the heart of the midfield where Djurgarden are strong anyway, but as it was the case last season the team’s main issues are expected to be in attack. Buya Turay was loaned in after hard few months in Belgium to lead the line, but he is not very consistent goalscorer and it seems that if he misfires those around him won’t be of much help. That said Barkroth arrived last summer and took his time before gaining form late in 2018 and if he is able to transport it into the new season he could be crucial figure up front.

Target


Djurgarden hope to be in the top 3 at the end of the season, but the lack of firepower might see the team once again missing out on the medals.