Football Season Guide

After a Herculean effort last season, they managed to topple mighty Red Bull Salzburg to win the title. Almost as impressive as that has been their preparations pre-season to do the exact same thing again; once is clearly not enough for them - they're hungry for more. The big news out of Graz pre-season was that they've managed to persuade star midfielder Kiteishvili to sign a new contract; that's as good as a new signing. They were equally as fortuitous in persuading Arsenal to let them keep loanee striker Biereth at the club - it cost them around 4 million to do it, but they did, signalling their intent. Indeed, it's been a strong transfer window for Sturm Graz, only letting Affengruber and Schnegg leave (a.k.a. players they weren't concerned about losing). Goalkeeper Jaros' loan move ended but that was only ever supposed to be until Scherpen got fit, whose loan move has naturally been extended due to his bad injury last season. Additionally, they've brought in Khudyakov, who is a very good goalkeeper too. With midfielder Zvonarek arriving on loan from Bayern Munich, familiar face Aiwu arriving in defence from Cremonese, Lavalee's loan move made permanent, Karic to give them a proper balance at LB/LWB, and youngsters like Chukwuani/Koita/Kern joining, the future looks rosy for Sturm Graz. There are literally no weaknesses in this squad. They need to keep an eye on Aiwu's well-documented attitude issues but they've assembled one hell of a squad, capable of competing on multiple fronts. GK Scherpen may not be fit in time to start the season but it shouldn't be an issue, assuming Khudyakov settles in quickly enough. Jatta may also miss the season opener but it's not a problem. Should be in a good position to start strongly, and will need to if they want to win the title again - there'll be one less team on their side in the title race this season now that bitter rivals Grazer AK have been promoted.