Football Season Guide

Dijon achieved their best ever Ligue 1 finish last season when they concluded the campaign 11th in the standings. Their fine term was achieved largely thanks to some excellent home form, but Olivier Dall’oglio’s men were generally one of the best teams in the league to watch due to their expansive, attacking approach, which yielded them 55 league goals over the course of the season. Having enjoyed such a campaign last time out, they will stick by their principles in the new season and will try to be equally as effective. Dall’oglio can be pleased with what has been achieved in the transfer market so far over the summer as he has generally been able to keep hold of all of his top performers. Losing goalkeeper Baptiste Reynet to Toulouse is a blow, as he was a fine performer, but in has come Iceland international Runar Runarsson. Papy Djilobodji’s loan from Sunderland has expired, with Mickael Alphonse arriving from second division Sochaux to replace him. A solid performer, Alphonse should not represent too much of a step down from the ex-Chelsea player. He will also add depth to the side and will face a battle with Morocco international Nayef Aguerd to start. Perhaps the biggest loss, though, is that of Xeka, whose loan from Lille is up. However, Naim Sliti has been retained from LOSC and was a bigger part of the team towards the end of the season. At the top end of the field, they still have plenty going for them, with striker Julio Tavares hitting nearly a goal every other game last season, while Wesley Said contributed strongly too. With Chang-hoon Kwon netting 11 times from the midfield, there is no shortage of scoring power in the team’s ranks, although the South Korean starts the campaign injured.