Football Season Guide

Monaco’s rebuild is set to go on in the season ahead, with a new coach and a new sporting director appointed after a miserable campaign that saw them struggle in mid-table. Paul Mitchell comes into the latter post, having enjoyed tremendous success at the Red Bull group, while Niko Kovac is the new coach, promising a more solid team and suggesting they will not be as freewheeling as they were last term. With an enormous squad, Monaco are still undertaking the task of cutting away the players surplus to requirements, with the most notable figure to depart centre-back Kamil Glik, who had become a liability due to a lack of pace. Islam Slimani’s loan deal from Leicester has not been extended, but after starting last term strongly, he faded. Crucially, Wissam Ben Yedder remains at the club. He is a player capable of gracing most teams in Europe. In midfield, Aleksandr Golovin remains the star man, having grown in strength after a slow start in France, yet there remain too many makeweight players of average ability in that sector who will simply not get enough game time to justify their wages. Cesc Fabregas is another big name, yet the former Arsenal, Chelsea and Barcelona star now lacks pace and may not be a regular starter. Similarly, the rearguard is suffering from that malady, with Djibril Sidibe likely to leave, even after Everton elected not to make his loan deal permanent. Injury problems also struck the team last season, with highly promising youngster Willem Geubbels and Pietro Pellegri both suffering chronically. Their futures as professionals at a high level seem to hang in the balance and staying physically fit will be key. Meanwhile, in the background, Mitchell is working to tidy up what is a rather shambolic squad, with too many players and too little quality. Any signings – and some are expected, especially in midfield – are likely to come towards the end of the transfer window.