Football Season Guide

First Division A
Belgium
First Division A
2016/2017
SV Zulte Waregem
Clean filter

SV Zulte Waregem

In


Davy De fauw (def), Club Brugge), Lukas Lerager (mid), Viborg), Timothy Derijck (def), ADO Den Haag), Brian Hamalainen (def), Genk), Igor Vetokele (att), Charlton - loan), Jens Naessens (mid), Mechelen - loan), Sander Coopman (mid), Club Brugge - loan), Obbi Oulare (att), Watford - loan)

Out


Formose Mendy (def), Red Star 93), Stephen Buyl (sp)(att), Royal FC Antwerpen - loan), Cédric D'Ulivo (sp)(def), Karel D'Haene (r)(def), retired), Abdou Diallo (r)(def), Monaco - end of loan), Marko Poletanovic (sp)(mid), Gent - end of loan), Steve De Ridder (r)(att), FC Copenhagen - end of loan), Nikola Storm (sp)(mid), Club Brugge - end of loan), Mame Thiam (r)(att), Juventus - end of loan)

Zulte-Waregem prepare for the coming season looking to build on a relatively successful last campaign when they managed to rebuild and get into the top-six at the end. Francky Dury’s side somewhat faded after that but as a whole made decent progress over the previous 12 months and the aim is to continue that trend in the season ahead. They have acquired some interesting players and their squad looks quite flexible and not short of attacking firepower. Mbaye Leye is still around after having a real good last season and now Dury can call upon the likes of Igor Vetokele and Obbi Oulare up front as well. The pair have arrived on loan from English sides and Oulare is especially a man with a good reputation. He burst into the scene with Club Brugge in 2015 before getting a big transfer to Watford. He struggled to get game time after that but he is an undoubted talent and may well become a real presence in the side in the coming season. Davy de Fauw is a great personality to have back at the club too as the seasoned defender is back at Waregem after a couple of years with Club Brugge. Timothy Derijck is expected to bring stability and presence at the heart of defence upon the departure of a good player in Abdou Diallo and the retirement of long-serving skipper Karl D’Haene. The team seems most lacking in midfield as Lukas Lerager his very much an unknown quality and he has been signed to fill the gap there. The Dane may well prove a good addition but for now it looks like Dury will need at least one more creative player there to make the team gel better. Last but not least, Jens Naessens is back at the club where he made his name. The wide man struggled in the past two years since leaving Essevee and will hope to rebuild his career career with a manager who trusts him. Overall, there is a lot of promise with this Zulte-Waregem squad and given that they have a very capable manager that knows the club inside out, they have a pretty decent chance to challenge for European places. Yet it all hinges on how the number of new players

Target


Have the capacity to challenge for the top six again and may well push for a European spot given the excellent additions to the squad