Football Season Guide

Grasshopper are coming from their worst league campaign in the current decade, as they finished the 2017/18 season as ninth, just clear of relegated Lausanne. The Zurichers showed plenty of promise under Murat Yakin in the majority of the autumn season, but their spring season form was shocking and Yakin was fired with four games left to play. Thorsten Fink managed to stir the Zurichers to safety in the few games he had in charge, but the German manager, who was available after being fired by Austria Vienna this spring, will now be expected to deliver a much better campaign. Unsurprisingly, Fink's arrival also meant a squad clear-out, with the new Grasshopper manager opting to part ways with some of the players who featured heavily under Yakin, such as Emil Bergstrom and Trent Sainsbury, while the sole genuine blow is the departure of Kenan Kodro, as the Zurichers were unable to snap up the Bosnian striker, who was playing for them on loan. Grasshopper have not made many signings, but players such as Nabil Bahoui, Charles Pickel and Runar Sigurjonsson will be given a new lease on life after being marginalized by Murat Yakin and allowed to depart on loans. The Zurichers have also made the eye-catching signing of Raphael Holzhauser, a player who Fink is well acquainted with, having managed him at Austria Vienna.