Football Season Guide

Antalya managed to do a great job with coach Riza Calimbay last season as they managed to finish in the top 5 and they look much more assertive this time around. Of course, the coach stayed at the South Coast city side and they did not see any major departures during the summer transfer market except Mbilla Etame. Therefore, the main structure of the team remained solid. Some very useful players were added for the tough season. The club signed Jeremy Menez from French side Bordeaux. He may have to miss a few early fixtures because of an injury but he is expected to offer good performances with his quality. Despite some rumours, the experienced Samuel Eto’o will also play for Antalya once again. Besides him, there is also Moestafa El Kabir and Deniz Kadah up front so the coach has many offensive options. Salih Dursun did a good job during his loan move from Galatasaray so the board decided to sign him on a permanent deal. Considering that Ondřej Čelůstka can also play at right-back, Antalya look secure on that side but it seems like they need to add one more left footed defender as there is only Sakip Aytac who meets that criteria. At this point, the coach may have to use one of the newcomers including Aydin Karabulut or Maicon in the backline. In the midfield, they also look strong as Charles, Zeki Yildirim and Danilo stayed with the club. It is known that Chico can also act as a midfielder when needed. In goal, there is also a newcomer as Ruud Boffin from Eskisehir made his move so he will compete with Ferhat Kaplan and Sašo Fornezzi. In general, Antalya have a very good squad. With one or two more additions, they can be a very dangerous dark horse for a place in the top four.