Football Season Guide

Nantes were the surprise package of last season as they pushed into the top half of the standings and secured a place in Europe via success in the Coupe de France. It marked a remarkable turnaround in the 18 months that Antoine Kombouare has been managing the club, which just escaped relegation via the playoffs a season earlier. Unfortunately for Nantes, building on last season’s success will be problematic. They have lost some key members of their team, with the attack notably stripped out. Losing Randal Kolo Muani, who was their ace centre-forward, to Frankfurt under the freedom of contract rules was a huge blow as it deprived them of the chance of a transfer fee to reinvest in their squad. Bit-part attackers Osman Bukari, Kalifa Coulibaly, Willem Geubbels and Wylan Cyprien have all left the team over the summer, too. They are down in numbers offensively to this point, although the pick up of Nice youngster Evann Guessand is a promising signing. Mostafa Mohamed, meanwhile, has arrived from Galatasaray. They are lacking depth in this area, though. There will be a greater onus on existing players Moses Simon, Ludovic Blas and Marcus Coco to carry the forward line, although that promises to be complicated in a season in which they will be asked to play so much more football. The fact that none are likely to go to the World Cup is a saviour. Elsewhere in the squad, there is little tangible change. The arrival of veteran midfielder Moussa Sissoko could allow him to partner key figure Pedro Chirivella and for Andrei Girotto to drop into the defence on a more permanent basis, with Nicolas Pallois still the key figure in that sector of the team. Meanwhile, goalkeeper Alban Lafont will again have a big role to play. With Antoine Kombouare having courted controversy last season by saying the club’s young players aren’t good enough, he may be forced to rely on some of these youngsters to beef up his ranks in the season ahead, in which Nantes will be stretched on two fronts.