Football Season Guide

The arrival of Sinisa Mihajlovic at the helm of the team, in the past campaign, was expected to bring Torino back among the protagonists of the Serie A. The new coach certainly led the Bulls back into the top 10 after a rather anonymous season but his boys only seldom managed to impress. In fact, while they were quite solid in front of their supporters, Torino were often hopeless when travelling, thus continuously alternating positive and negative results. The coach was particularly upset by his boys' displays and, in the final months of the season, he even opted for a major tactical change, adopting a 4-2-3-1 formation instead of his usual 4-3-3. It didn't really have the desired effect though. This was quite a disappointment, especially considering how much quality they had in the attack, with the likes of Adem Ljajic, Iago Falque and, last but not least, Andrea Belotti. In order to fight for something more than just a top 10 finish, Torino management opted to strengthen all the departments of the squad while also keeping the attack intact, resisting all the offers which arrived for Belotti. In goal, Joe Hart opted to leave after just one year on loan and he was replaced by a much more solid and reliable Salvatore Sirigu so this should turn out to be a positive thing for the Bulls. Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, arriving from Dansk, will replace the now departed Daniele Padelli as the former PSG goalie's deputy. The defence needed to be tightened and to gain some depth. Leandro Castan and Arlind Ajeti were thus let go without any regrets. Meanwhile, the young Lyanco from Sao Paulo and Nicolas N’Koulou, on loan from Olympique Lyonnais, are set to become two protagonists as centre-backs. Tomas Rincon, who just signed from their arch-enemies, Juventus, will have to provide strength in the middle of the park together with the remaining Afriyie Acquah and Daniele Baselli. The attack was enriched by the arrival of the talented Alex Berenguer, who is likely acting among the attacking midfielders and should be feeding Belotti with some assists. Torino really aim at fighting for European qualification and, for such reason, they are still looking for new players. At least one man for each department is needed by the coach in order to make the team really competitive.