It has been eight years since Grenoble last played in Ligue 2, having disappeared from view following financial difficulties that caused them an embarrassing double relegation from Ligue 1 and then the second flight at the start of the decade. However, they fought they way back into the second tier last season via the playoffs, in which they saw off Bourg 2-1 on aggregate, coming through in that first game despite having Arsene Elogo sent off when the score was tied.
Philippe Hinschberger’s side will benefit from a number of players with strong recent experience at Ligue 2 or higher, with the arrivals of Jerome Mombris and Youssef Mchangama joining up from Gazelec Ajaccio and Jessy Benet coming from Dijon. Furthermore, the addition of midfielder Ryan Sanusi from Sparta Rotterdam seems a fine signing, given his previous pedigree. And even before these figures were added, Grenoble already had a number of promising players in their panel, including forward Lakdar Boussaha, who was a regular on the scoresheet with Bourg a couple of seasons ago, plus the experienced Nicolas Belvito.
Further back in the park, Alexi Peuget has won promotion from this level with Reims previously, while winger Alharbi El Jadeyaoui has a wealth of experience in France’s professional leagues and should have few issues settling, even if he has perhaps not produced the goals and assists that might have been expected of him. Defender Maxime Spano is another to have experience at a higher standard, albeit only a handful of matches with Toulouse in the top flight.
The rearguard is the area where they do not have the obvious experience that they do in other sectors of the team. Nevertheless, this was actually the strongest area of their side last season as they conceded a league-best 23 goals. At the other end of the park, they only scored 33 times, however, and that is an area that will need improvement.
