Football Season Guide

Montpellier have firmly established themselves as a mid-table club in Ligue 1, habitually finishing between 6th and 13th in the standings over the last 10 decade or so. Last season, they were towards the lower part of that and the signs suggest that they will do well to finish much above it this season. Certainly, they will draw hope from the manner in which Michel Der Zakarian inspired the team to finish the campaign strongly, avoiding what threatened to be a relegation dogfight in the process. Indeed, they were one of the form teams in the league in the final weeks of the campaign. Now the challenge is replicating that over an entire season. Der Zakarian will be positive. The only regular starter he has lost is Stephy Mavididi, who missed much of the run in with injury problems, and while eight players in total have departed, none of those others to leave will be particularly missed. Equally, though, the squad looks thin in terms of numbers, while there is still a very real prospect that they will sell last season’s top scorer Elye Wahi before the end of the transfer window – leading Premier League clubs are looking at him. Montpellier have few new faces of note. Falaye Sakho has made his loan move permanent, while Becir Omeragic and Moussa Al-Tamari have both arrived on free transfers to support the defence and attack respectively. While Montpellier have ample cover across their back four, this area can be left exposed because they are typically a forward-thinking side. The midfield sector is anchored by Jordan Ferri, who will again be vital, while going forward Teji Savanier will be hoping to get back to his best after an uncharacteristically quiet season. There is a threat from wide via Arnaud Nordin, but the attacking responsibility is being shouldered by Wahi – a top talent but someone who is liable to get a very good offer elsewhere.