Premier League debutants Gudja United made their intentions clear for the new season when they paraded their new signings during a promotional activity this week.
Gudja earned the right to play in the Premier League for the first time after clinching second spot in Division One last season but intend to celebrate the club’s 75th anniversary by prolonging their stay in the top flight by more than one year.
This summer they have been active on the transfer market and signed no fewer than 14 new players to strengthen the squad, again trusted in the hands of coach Josef Mansueto.
Club president Duncan Borg Myatt is not looking too far ahead and has refused to set any objectives for the season other than making a good name for themselves in their debut season in the Premier League.
“We have set no objectives this season. We have to take it game by game. Every game starts 0-0. We will try to win every game and improve our performance. Let’s see where all this will take us,” he added.
But in reality, Gudja’s main objective in their first year in the Premier League is to avoid the drop and preserve their status among the elite clubs at the end of the season.
Borg Myatt shrugged off the tag relegation battlers given their successful forays in the transfer market.
“I do not agree that we start as favourites to lose our top-flight status. There will be up to five par-level teams that will battle it out until the end to avoid being relegated. We are one of them,” he added.
Gudja coach Mansueto spoke about the team’s aspirations. He said his first season at the club had been a learning curve since he had to adjust to the level of First Division football and his priority now is to instil a belief that they need to approach every game in the right manner.
“For us it’s important that we put a strong performance against each and every opponent and earn their respect,” he explained.
New foreigners and a couple of loan signings were brought in by the Gudja coach, who conscious of the gap between the First Division and the Premier League, endeavoured to assemble a squad strong enough to challenge for survival.
Amongst the new arrivals at Gudja are seven Maltese players, namely, Zack Cassar, Timothy Aquilina, Hubert Vella, Dylan Grima, James Brincat, Justin Grioli and Aidan Friggieri.
They have also signed seven new foreigners. Brazilian Alexander Santana, Anderson Meyer and Anderson de Barros, formerly of Tarxien Rainbows. Former Pietà Hotspurs striker Gabriel Mensah also joined them together with Colombian defender Juan Bolanos.
Whereas Rundell Winchester and Alan Miranda come in with a proven pedigree, the former a Trinidadian international and the latter a 32-year-old defender who played for Costa Rica in the CONCACAF qualification for Russia 2018.
Gudja start their 2019/20 Premier League campaign with a tough match against Hibernians on August 24.