Hyderabad FC are a newly formed team after the ownership stakes transferred from the erstwhile Pune City FC in 2019. They have not exactly taken ISL by storm finishing 10th in the 2019 season, but with a new coach at the helm, could they turn around their fortunes?
We take a look at how they stack up ahead of the new Indian Super League season:
TRANSFERS
Hyderabad bought international players like Fran Sandaza and Joel Chianese to reinforce key departures. In addition, they have also bought a number of players on free transfers with the main Indian footballers being Subrata Paul and Halicharan Narzary.
The club have obviously bid farewell to the likes of Marcelinho and Stankovic, and it will be interesting to see how they cope with the loss of such influential players. Hyderabad also released centre forward Robin Singh from their roster ahead of the new season.
SQUAD LIST
GOALKEEPERS
- Lalbhiakhlua Jongte
- Laxmikant Kattimani
- Manas Dubey
- Subrata Paul
DEFENDERS
- Akash Mishra
- Asish Rai
- Chinglensana Singh
- Dimple Bhagat
- Nikhil Prabhu
- Odej Onaindia
- Kynsailang Khongsit
- Sahil Panwar
MIDFIELDERS
- Abhishek Halder
- Adil Khan
- Sahil Tavora
- Halicharan Narzary
- Hitesh Sharma
- Joao Victor
- Laldanmawia Ralte
- Lluis Sastre
- Mark Zothanpuia
- Mohammed Yasir
- Nikhil Poojary
- Souvik Chakrabarti
- Sweden Fernandes
FORWARDS
- Aridane Santana
- Fran Sandaza
- Ishan Dey
- Joel Chianese
- Lalawmpuia
- Liston Colaco
- Rohit Danu
STRENGTH
Although Albert Roca left the team to join Barcelona as a coach, his replacement Manolo Marquez is also a good coach with an expressive style of play. It could just be the key signing for Hyderabad, who will look to put together a team capable of finishing mid-table at best.
WEAKNESS
It is hard to see how The Nizams will stack up against the likes of the more superior squads. Ultimately, their team chemistry will also be affected by a host of new players entering the fray and getting them to work together.
KEY PLAYER
Scoring 34 goals and 10 assists in 127 games, Fran Sandaza shoulders the burden of converting the goalscoring opportunities he receives. Not having Marcelinho will be a big blow to the club, but the management will be confident that their investment in Sandaza will pay dividends in the league.
PREDICTED TABLE FINISH
11th place – Hyderabad might be able to grow in the future, but they do not have the might to launch a genuine challenge for the playoffs.
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