Football Season Guide

Standard’s awful financial situation made their last campaign a hard watch for fans and anyone that loves the team. Twice during the campaign Standard were punished with transfer embargo for unpaid and delayed wages, or delayed taxes. Still, thanks to the ability to loan in some good players Standard finished the regular season in tenth place. Once safety was confirmed the games in Play-off II were only for testing youngsters. The main reason for avoiding relegation was the managerial change that took place in late December 2023. Once Ivan Leko took over the results were better. As it was inevitable Leko saw many of his regulars from last season leaving this summer. Standard’s financial situation hasn’t improved much and Leko finds it very hard to even find players willing to come to Liege right now. The Croatian manager convinced 2 of his countrymen (Sutalo and Bulat) to join, while striker Grejohn Kyei arrives with the promise to be a key figure up front. Standard lost 5 main players in attack this summer and so far Kyei is the only attacking player to join. Finding more reinforcements up front and fast is vital if Standard want to stay out of trouble. The other big issue is not related to the football part of things. There are reports of delayed wages again. If the financial uncertainty continues Standard might find themselves banned from making new signings once more. For now this has been avoided but the situation remains uncertain and is reviewed regularly at the start of each new month from the league’s financial board.