Football Season Guide

Although Yeni Malatyaspor lost their leadership of the 1st division in the final few games of last season, they still managed to gain promotion to the Super Lig for the first time in their club's history but it is not the East region city’s first experience. Malatya competed at the top level eleven years ago before they had to move to the amateur division. Now, the whole city is very excited to welcome seventeen top flight teams to the Malatya Inonu Stadium. As expected, the board were very active in the summer transfer market in order to catch up to the level of the league. During their fight for promotion, they sometimes struggled to find the net. That is why they tried to bring some quality offensive options. Khalid Boutaib and Emmanuel Dening were signed in to join Jonathan Ayite and Eren up front. Arsenal academy product Nacer Barazite (who spent a good season at Utrecht) and Issiar Dia (who is former Fenerbahce winger) were added to improve offensive creativity. The board persuaded Michaël Pereira and Boubacar Dialiba, who did a good job last season, to stay. Ertac Ozbir also remained at the club and the board signed Fabien Farnolle from Le Havre this summer. It seems like the fans will feel secure about the goalkeeping position but the backline seems the weakest part of the squad overall. Only former Basaksehir man Yalcin Ayhan is at the level of the Super Lig. The other options are quite worrying for them. Before the summer transfer market is closed, they need to bring in some quality defensive players, especially on the left side. If Yeni Malatyaspor bring in these reinforcements and manage to produce enough goals, they are unlikely to sweat at the end of the season.