Football Season Guide

First Division A
Belgium
First Division A
2023/2024
RWD Molenbeek
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RWD Molenbeek

In


Alexis De Sart (mid) Royal Antwerp – loan made permanent; Abner (def) Farense; Guillaume Hubert (gk) Oostende; Pierre Dwomoh (mid) Royal Antwerp – on loan

Out


Jake O’Brien (k) (def) Crystal Palace – end of loan; Youssef Challouk (r) (mid) Kortrijk – end of loan; Yan Vorogovskiy (r) (def) Astana; Camilo (r) (mid) Lyon – end of loan; Ivan Botella (sp) (mid) released; Vinicius Lopes (sp) (att) Botafogo - end of loan; Barreto (sp) (mid) Botafogo – end of loan; Luis Oyama (sp) (mid) Botafogo – end of loan; Nico Hamalainen (sp) (def) QPR – end of loan; Rikelmi (att) Botafogo – end of loan

Molenbeek won the First Division B title last season with victory on the final day. They have moved up the divisions since being taken over by American owners in 2015. It was a two-horse race for the Belgian First Division B title last season with Molenbeek just pipping Beveren by one point. Despite continuing speculation over his future, 41-year-old Vincent Euvrard for now remains the manager. There have been significant player departures over the summer with player of the season O’Brien and valuable midfielders Challouk and Camilo returning to their parent clubs. Also, influential winger Hazard sustained a serious knee injury in a recent friendly ruling him out for six months. They still retain important wide man El Ouahdi and main striker Biron (16 league goals last season). Recruitment so far looks ok: De Sart has been signed permanently after impressing on loan last season. Home form will be crucial, they only lost one home league match last season recording 12 wins and three draws. Squad still looks light and short on quality especially with Hazard now sidelined. When it comes to bringing players in, they have links with French Ligue 1 side Lyon, English Premier League side Crystal Palace and Brazilian team Botafogo.

Target


Staying up is the obvious goal. Union Saint-Gilloise and Westerlo are examples of recently promoted teams that have performed well in First Division A.