Samuel Bastien (sp)(mid), Burnley), Mehdi Carcela-González (sp)(mid), Niels Nkounkou (r)(def), Everton - end of loan), Daouda Peeters (sp)(mid), Juventus - end of loan)
Standard Liege endured a truly miserable season last year as they were miles away from even the Europa Conference play-offs and went from one crisis to another over the course of nine months.
Luka Elsner was naturally let go at the end of the season after failing to oversee any tangible progress after being appointed back in October.
Now the new American owners, who took over since the end of the season, decided to appoint Norwegian Rony Deila, who was lured back to Europe after winning the MLS with New York City FC last season.
He is facing very much a challenging task in this new campaign as a somewhat shallow squad has not been strengthened at all and no new signings have arrived so far.
In terms of departures, Samuel Bastien is the most high-profile one but he was not much of a key player last season anyway. The likes of Nicolas Raskin, Arnaud Bodart and Moussa Sissako have so far stayed put but as a whole there is little reason for excitement in the current squad and it seems like most of the same players from last season will be expected to raise their level and become more consistent as a whole.
It speaks volumes to the recent decline of one of Belgium's biggest clubs but realistically it is hard to see the Liege side to push for a play-off spot in their current form and it will take quite a few reinforcements for this to genuinely change.
