Welcome back! AS Monaco and RCSA start their preseasons

Racing Club de Strasbourg and AS Monaco started their preseasons on Monday, officially kicking off the 2024/25 season

The 2024/2025 season is here! After the Ligue 1 fixtures for the year were announced on Friday, two top-flight clubs were eager to get to work and started training on Monday,

Racing Club de Strasbourg

Ahead of an ambitious preseason program that includes a training camp in Austria and no less than six friendlies, Patrick Vieira convened his young squad with the focus on improving his side. With a raft of veterans, including Lebo Mothiba, Ibrahima Sissoko and Kévin Gameiro having departed over the summer following the expiry of their contracts, the team will have an increased focus on an impressive set of young players.

Leading scorer Emanuel Emegha only turned 21 in February, and he'll be eager to stay fit through the season and improve on the eight goals he netted last season. Dilane Bakwa, named the club's Player of the Season and a finalist for the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year, finished with three goals and six assists, and the two will be joined by promising young Serbian forward Milos Lukovic. Lukovic arrived in January but returned to previous club IMT, having finished top scorer in the Serbian Super Liga with 17 goals.

AS Monaco

While several of Monaco's players are involved in international tournaments, including the Swiss duo of Breel Embolo and Denis Zakaria in Euro 2024, some 15 players reported to the Principality for duty on Monday as Adi Hütter began preparations for a momentous season ahead of the Rouge et Blanc's return to the UEFA Champions League. While Wissam Ben Yedder -- the club's second-leading all time scorer -- has announced his departure, AS Monaco remains a wellspring of talent young and old, with veterans like Aleksandr Golovin and Takumi Minamino ready to link up with newly-minted Moroccan international Eliesse Ben Seghir and France's Maghnes Akliouche.

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