Football Season Guide

A tumultuous campaign saw Mainz spend a vast majority of last season in the relegation zone and only a nine-match unbeaten run at the end helped them climb up to a 13th place finish with the club twice changing their coach over the course of the campaign. Bo Henriksen will remain in charge of the team despite reportedly being target for English side Burnley. The Danish coach though will be without his most promising player with Mainz confirming a big deal for Gruda who has been signed by Premier League side Brighton. Barreiro Martins and van den Berg were also regulars in the lineup last season but have since left the club along with Guilavogui, Burgzorg, Ngankam and Papela. There have not been too many new arrivals with Kaishu Sano their biggest outlay, with the defensive midfielder signed from Kashima Antlers, while Nikolas Veratschnig and Armindo Sieb are the remaining two new faces, with the latter signed on loan from Bayern Munchen. The unbeaten run at the end of last season is a promising sign and the club will be hoping for a place in the top half of the table this time around. However it will be a weakened squad that will be taking to the field and Henriksen will be aware of the difficulty of the task in front of him if he is to remain in charge come the end of the season.