Football Season Guide

Partly because of their affiliation with Udinese and Watford, partly because they nurture a lot of their squad members on short-term deals, but Granada always have one of the highest turnovers of any Primera Division club during summer transfer windows and 2016 has been no different. The team which finished a point above the drop zone to narrowly avoid relegation has been decimated. Their entire front three (Adalberto Penaranda, Youssef El Arabi and Isaac Success) are among the players who have left, as well as first team regulars Diego Mainz, Cristian Biraghi, Jean-Marie Babin, Andres Fernandez, Ruben Rochina and Ruben Perez. There has also been a change in manager, with Jose Gonzalez only ever a short-term measure when he replaced Jose Ramon Sandoval in February – replaced by the man who worked wonders at Rayo Vallecano, Paco Jemez. It is a stain on his copy book that Rayo were relegated in his final season in Vallecas last term but Jemez literally worked wonders in keeping the Rayistas up time after time before that. He had to do so despite seeing his squad overhauled every summer – Rayo is one of the few clubs with a higher turnover of playing staff than Granada – and he will face a similar problem at Los Carmenes at least in this first instance. His hope will be that their transfer policy changes from here on out so he can build success steadily. The club has now been bought by Chinese investors so Granada will no longer be slaves to their sister clubs. Although there will be some uncertainty as they become accustomed to the new owners, there should be a more regular cash flow in future. On the pitch, the aim will be to avoid another narrow escape from the clutches of relegation by securing salvation early. Jemez’s teams have a tendency to start the season slowly and build momentum but if they can kick into gear early on, they could achieve their target and start looking up the table. David Barral is expected to lead the line as the main striker since all of his competitors have left. He tends to operate best as a lone striker, as he proved in over 200 appearances for Sporting Gijon. Isaac Cuenca will operate in support, with Jon Toral and Jeremie Boga expecting plenty of minutes as well having joined the club on loan from Arsenal and Chelsea respectively in order to gain experience. New signings Tito – a favourite of Jemez’s from Rayo – Matthieu Seunier and Gabriel Silva could also feature in the starting eleven on matchday one, while Guillermo Ochoa has moved across Andalusia to prove that he is too good to sit on the bench as he did for most of his two year stint at Malaga. The Mexican goalkeeper was a hero at the 2014 World Cup and could be a crucial player between the sticks for the Rojiblancos this term.