Football Season Guide

After losing the promotion play-offs in 2021/2022, last season ambitious Paris FC were expected to fight for the Ligue 1 again but had to content themselves with a seventh place finish. Constantly plagued by injuries, Thierry Laurey's boys were inconsistent until the end of April, when they eventually produced their best run of the campaign. It was their home form, in particular, which killed Paris promotion hopes. Laurey was unexpectedly let go and he was replaced by Stéphane Gilli, a former assistant coach for Morocco and Paris themselves, at his first experience as head coach. During the transfer campaign, Paris lost several protagonists of the past campaign and not all of them have actually been replaced yet. Firstly, they saw legendary 40-year-old goalie Demarconnay hang up his boots but he should be properly replaced by experienced Filipovic. Then, they will have to field a completely new defence with centre-backs Bernauer and Lefort and left-back Hanin all gone. Gaudin was hired from Guingamp to replace the latter while talented Mbow, who did well at Seraing, represents an alternative for the heart of the defence, where the likes of Chergui and Dabila should play major roles. A valid right-back is still missing, though. In the midfield, Iglesias and Phiri left unnoticed while Demoncy returns after a positive stint at Annecy. While a holding midfielder is still needed, great news is the investment made for attacking midfielder Kebbal, who made the difference towards the end of the past campaign. With their top scorer Guilavogui, 18 goals and 4 assists overall, and back-up Boutaib gone, Paris are still on the hunt for a prolific striker, since returning Diaby-Fadiga and Caddy only represent alternatives up-front.