Football Season Guide

RSC Anderlecht

In


Sergio Gomez (mid) Borussia Dortmund; Lior Refaelov (mid) Antwerp; Colin Coosemans (gk) Gent; Wesley Hoedt (def) Southampton; Taylor Harwood-Bellis (def) Man City – loan, Isaac Tshibangu (mid) Mazembe

Out


Lukas Nmecha (k) (att) Man City - end of loan; Matt Miazga (r) (def) Chelsea - end of loan; Landry Dimata (sp) (att) Espanyol; Paul Mukairu (sp) (mid) Antalyaspor - end of loan; Jacob Bruun Larsen (sp) (mid) Hoffenheim - end of loan; Abdoualye Diaby (sp) (att) Sporting - end of loan; Knowledge Musona (mid) Al-Tai; Thierry Lutonda (def) RKC Waalwijk; Peter Zulj (mid) Basaksehir; Warner Hahn (gk) released

Last season, in club legend Vincent Kompany’s first full campaign as a manager, Anderlecht were hard to beat but struggled for goals. They were never serious title contenders, but they did manage to scrape into the top 4 and fulfil the aim for the season which was to secure European football. The Mauves have made some shrewd summer additions, bringing in Hoedt and Refaelov who are proven at this level. However, they are set to lose two of their major assets from last season, Nmecha has already gone back to Manchester City while all-action midfielder Albert Sambi Lokonga is on the verge of permanently joining Arsenal. Gomez has been brought in as a potential replacement for Lokonga. Once highly regarded at Barcelona’s youth academy, he has yet to fulfil his promise at professional level. The main concern for Anderlecht is that they have yet to sign a replacement for Nmecha, who was their focal point in attack last season and far and away their top scorer with 14 goals. With Kompany now having a full season of senior management under his belt and with a squad balancing experience with the burgeoning talents of Anouar Ait El Hadj, Yari Verschaeren and Francis Amuzu among others, Anderlecht have the potential to improve on their showing from last season.

Target


Have the makings of a squad that can secure a top three finish. Whether they can achieve this looks likely to depend on the striker / strikers they bring in and how they perform.