Zulte Waregem is still “among the people” at the beginning of February 2024, but is only in third place after Deinze and Beerschot. There are expected to be ten more exciting matches, but in the meantime a number of solutions have been seen and/or found.
Coach Vincent Ovrard has made some difficult decisions in recent months and referred a number of former strong players to the second team. Experienced Spanish defender Borja Lopez and summer signing Igor Savic from Bosnia and Herzegovina have already dropped into the second team in October.
A solution was reached for the former in the form of a loan to Spain's Leganes, while Igor Savic left for his country on a free transfer and signed with Bosnian Zrinjski Mostar.
The solution in Zinho Jano's work?
A number of (Belgian) youngsters have made the transition from the promising squad to the first team and played some minutes there in the last month. Yannick Capelli even scored the winner against Seraing, but he only played 51 minutes for the first team.
There were two other major victims in December: Timothy Derijk and Zinho Janu. So the question is whether they will be taken into consideration in 2024. Janou went to the Africa Cup of Nations with Guinea Bissau and competed against Ivory Coast and Nigeria, among others.
The country lost three times, and the 30-year-old Gano ultimately played just one inning against Nigeria (0-1). He remained on the bench for the other two matches. In the meantime, the question is: will we see him again in Belgium?
A few months ago he was able to go to Saudi Arabia, but a winter move is still not ruled out. Jano has already scored eight goals this season, making him the club's top scorer in the Challenger Pro League, but it seems there is no future for him anymore. With Kocaelispor joining the Turkish second division, a late solution could be on the way, after deals with OH Leuven and KV Mechelen fell through.
What happened to Timothy Derejk?
Timothy Direjk, for his part, wanted to be important for Isefi at the age of 36, but after his substitution (and his reaction to it) against Futures Anderlecht (2-5 defeat) he also had to do without selection. First team in December.
His contract expires in June 2024 and so he can, in principle, talk to other teams. Would you like to put yourself back in the spotlight at Tovraar, in order to help promote the operation? This was no longer possible, and in the meantime his contract with Essevee was terminated.
Meanwhile, Essevee still has a chance to get 36 out of 60, but after taking 4 out of 12 in 2024, everything will be up for grabs in the last ten matches of the competition. The upcoming matches are of utmost importance, because in the last five matches there are still matches against Beerschot, Dainze, Eisden, Dender and Lierse.
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