# 2024–25 FC Basel season

The 2024–25 season is FC Basel's 131st season in their existence and the club's 30th consecutive season in the top flight of Swiss football since their promotion in the 1993–94 season. The 2024–25 Swiss Super League season starts on 20 July 2024 and ends on 24 May 2025. In addition to the Swiss Super League, Basel also participate in this season's edition of the Swiss Cup, starting in the third round. This will be the club's first season in 25 years that they will not compete in any European competition, as since their 1999–2000 season they always had always qualified for an UEFA competition.

## Club
### FC Basel Holding AG

The FC Basel Holding AG owns 75% of FC Basel 1893 AG and the other 25% is owned by the FC Basel 1893 club members. The club FC Basel 1893 functions as a base club independent of the holding company and the AG. FC Basel 1893 AG is responsible for the operational business of the club, e.g. the first team, the women's first team, a large part of the youth department and the back office are affiliated there. All decisions that affect the club FC Basel 1893 are made within the AG.
On 6 May 2024 the AGM of the FC Basel Holding AG and the FC Basel 1893 AG were held and both boards were confirmed. The Holding AG with following members: David Degen (president), Dan Holzmann, Ursula Rey-Krayer and Andreas Rey (vice-president). FC Basel 1893 AG with following members: David Degen (president), Carol Etter (delegate of the club FC Basel), Dan Holzmann, Ursula Rey-Krayer and Andreas Rey (vice-president).

### Club management

Basel is the only professional club in Switzerland where the position of holding company's president and the club's president is not the same person. The club AGM also took place on 6 May 2024. With the exception of Dominik Donzé, who left the board of directors voluntarily, the entire board was re-elected with large majorities. These being Reto Baumgartner (club president), Carol Etter, Edward Turner and Tobias Adler. Donzé has held various positions on the FCB board since 2009. Two new members were also voted into the board of directors.
The board of directors of the club are:
| Club chairman | Reto Baumgartner |
| Director | Carol Etter |
| Director | Edward Turner |
| Director | Tobias Adler |
| Director | Andrea Häner-Roth |
| Director | Nicole Leuthard |
| Ground (capacity and dimensions) | St. Jakob-Park (37,994) (36,000 for international matches) / (120x80 m) |
Updated to match played 6 May 2024 Source: FCB Official Site

### Team management

During the previous season the position of the FCB sport director had been left vacant following the dismissal of Heiko Vogel on 31 October 2023. On 15 May 2024 FCB announced that Daniel Stucki had been appointed as new sports director.
During May Fabio Celestini signed a new two-year contract as head coach and on 31 May 2024 they announced their training staff for the coming season:
| Position | Staff |
| Sport director | Daniel Stucki from 15 May 2024 |
| Head coach | Fabio Celestini |
| Assistant coach | Davide Callà |
| Assistant coach | Luigi Nocentini |
| Athletics coach | Carlos Menéndez |
| Athletics coach | Thomas Bernhard |
| Goalkeeper coach | Gabriel Wüthrich |
| Youth Team U-21 coach | Mario Cantaluppi |
| Youth Team U-21 co-coach | Marco Aratore |
| Youth Team U-21 co-coach | Michaël Bauch |
Source: FCB official site

## Overview
### Off and pre-season

On 31 May 2024 Basel announced that they had reached an agreement with Hellas Verona for the permanent acquisition of Kevin Rüegg. The 25-year-old full-back, who had joined FCB on loan in September 2023 had signed a three-year contract with the club, dated until the summer of 2027. Further on 21 June the club announced that they had signed the French professional footballer Léo Leroy from Ligue 1 club Montpellier.
On 7 June FCB announced that they had loaned Đorđe Jovanović to FK Partizan for the coming season. Also on that day, they announced that Sergio López had not prolonged his contract with them and that he had moved to SV Darmstadt 98. On 22 June it was announced that Maurice Malone had been loaned to FK Austria Wien.
On 28 and 29 June the club announced that they prolonged the contracts of two of their youth players until summer 2027, these were Adriano Onyegbule and Arlet Junior Zé. They also extended their contract with Andrin Hunziker until summer 2027 but loaned him out to Karlsruher SC, so as he could gain more playing experience.
On 12 July 2024 the club announced that they load Dion Kacuri out to Yverdon-Sport until the end of the season, so as the player could gain more playing time at top-level Swiss football. Further on that day, they announced that Renato Veiga had signed a contract with Chelsea. At the same time Chelsea confirmed that Veiga had signed a seven-year contract at Stamford Bridge, the contract includes a further one-year option.
A further player player who moved in was Marin Šotiček. On 18 July FCB announced the transfer from NK Lokomotiva Zagreb on a four-year deal. Then, on 22 July 2024, FCB announced the transfer of Bénie Traoré, who came in from Sheffield United for an undisclosed fee, signing a four-year deal.
On 25 July 2024 Basel announced that by mutual agreement, Michael Lang and the club had terminated their contract. It therefore turned out, that the last match of their 2023–24 season against Yverdon-Sport, which ended in a goalless draw on 21 May 2024, had been his last competition game with the team. Between the years 2015 to 2018 and again from 2021 to 2024, Lang played a total of 263 games for Basel scoring a total of 36 goals. 151 of these games were in the Swiss Super League, 14 in the Swiss Cup, 56 in the UEFA competitions (Champions League, Europa League and Conference League) and 42 were friendly games. He scored 21 goals in the domestic league, 6 in the cup, 8 in the European games and the other was scored during the test games.
On 9 August, the club announced that Liam Millar had moved on to Hull City in the EFL Championship. He had signed a permanent three-year deal, he transferred for an undisclosed fee.
Chicago Fire and Xherdan Shaqiri mutually agreed to terminate their contract on 14 August. The separation was officially amicable, with Shaqiri explaining that he felt it was the "right time" to "explore new opportunities". On 16 August, two days later, Shaqiri returned to his club of origen, rejoining them on a three-year contract.
Last season's Super League joint-top-scorer Kevin Carlos was signed by FCB on 23 August from Yverdon-Sport. Then, on 30 August the club announced the signing of Mousse Cisse from VfB Stuttgart II. On the same day the club announced that they had loaned Juan Gauto to Deportivo de La Coruña and that they had signed Romário Baró in on loan from Porto.
Further, the club announced on 31 August that the contract with Jean-Kévin Augustin had been terminated by mutual agreement. Augustin left the club as free agent. In his two seasons with the club, he had played a total of 63 games for them scoring a total of 12 goals. 38 of these games were in the Swiss Super League, four in the Swiss Cup, nine in the UEFA Conference League and 12 were friendly games. He scored five goals in the domestic league, one in the cup, two in the European games and the other two were scored during the test games.
On 2 September, the club announced another player in on loan. The Swede Joe Mendes had joined them from Portuguese club Braga.
On the final day of the transfer window, FCB announced that their captain Fabian Frei had decided to rejoin his youth club Winterthur. Between the years 2007 to 2015 and again from 2018 to 2024 Frei played a total of 679 games for Basel scoring a total of 94 goals. 386 of these games were in the Swiss Super League, 46 in the Swiss Cup, 111 in the UEFA competitions (Champions League, Europa League and Conference League) and 136 were friendly games. He scored 41 goals in the domestic league, 10 in the cup, 13 in the European games and the other 30 were scored during the test games. Fabian Frei is the clubs record holder for the number of competition matches played with the club. He played 543 games in league, cup and UEFA.

## Players
### First-team squad

The following is the list of the Basel first team squad. It also includes players that were in the squad the day the season started on 16 July 2023, but subsequently left the club after that date.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | SUI | Marwin Hitz (vice-captain) |
| 3 | DF | SUI | Nicolas Vouilloz |
| 4 | DF | ESP | Arnau Comas (out) |
| 5 | MF | BRA | Metinho (on loan from Troyes) |
| 6 | DF | TUN | Mohamed Dräger (out) |
| 7 | FW | NGA | Philip Otele (on loan from Al Wahda) |
| 7 | MF | SUI | Benjamin Kololli (out) |
| 7 | FW | CAN | Liam Millar (out) |
| 8 | MF | POR | Romário Baró |
| 9 | FW | FRA | Thierno Barry (out) |
| 9 | FW | ESP | Kevin Carlos |
| 10 | FW | SUI | Xherdan Shaqiri (captain) |
| 11 | FW | CIV | Bénie Traoré |
| 13 | GK | SUI | Mirko Salvi |
| 14 | FW | SUI | Bradley Fink |
| 17 | MF | SWE | Joe Mendes |
| 18 | MF | GHA | Emmanuel Essiam |
| 19 | FW | CRO | Marin Šotiček |
| 20 | MF | SUI | Fabian Frei (out (former captain)) |
| 21 | MF | GEO | Gabriel Sigua |
| 22 | MF | FRA | Léo Leroy |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 23 | FW | SUI | Albian Ajeti |
| 25 | DF | SUI | Finn van Breemen |
| 26 | DF | BIH | Adrian Leon Barišić |
| 27 | DF | SUI | Kevin Rüegg |
| 28 | DF | FRA | Hugo Vogel (U-21) |
| 29 | MF | GER | Adriano Onyegbule |
| 29 | DF | FRA | Moussa Cissé |
| 30 | FW | GER | Anton Kade |
| 31 | MF | SUI | Dominik Schmid (vice-captain) |
| 32 | DF | GHA | Jonas Adjetey |
| 33 | MF | ARG | Juan Gauto |
| 34 | MF | ALB | Taulant Xhaka (vice-captain) |
| 35 | FW | SUI | Roméo Beney (U-21) |
| 37 | MF | SUI | Leon Avdullahu |
| 38 | MF | FRA | Axel Kayombo |
| 39 | MF | SUI | Arlet Junior Zé |
| 43 | DF | SUI | Marvin Akahomen (U-21) |
| 48 | FW | FRA | Aaron Akalé (U-21) |
| 49 | GK | GER | Tim Pfeiffer (U-21) |
| — | FW | FRA | Jean-Kévin Augustin |
| — | GK | SUI | Tim Spycher |

### Players out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 4 | DF | ESP | Arnau Comas (to Eibar until 30 June 2025) |
| 11 | FW | GER | Maurice Malone (to FK Austria Wien until 30 June 2025) |
| 17 | FW | SUI | Andrin Hunziker (to Karlsruher SC until 30 June 2025) |
| 28 | MF | SUI | Dion Kacuri (to Yverdon-Sport until 30 June 2025) |
| 29 | MF | GER | Adriano Onyegbule (to FC Schaffhausen until 30 June 2025) |
| 33 | MF | ARG | Juan Gauto (to Deportivo de La Coruña until 30 June 2025) |
| 38 | MF | FRA | Axel Kayombo (to FC Stade Lausanne Ouchy until 30 June 2025) |
| 99 | FW | SRB | Đorđe Jovanović (to FK Partizan until 30 June 2025) |
| — | GK | SUI | Tim Spycher (to Nyon until 10 January 2025) |
| — | MF | BEL | Jonathan Dubasin (to Real Sporting de Gijón until 30 June 2025) |
| — | FW | BRA | Kaio Eduardo (to Vaduz until 30 June 2025) |

### Players in on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 5 | MF | BRA | Metinho (on loan from Troyes) |
| 8 | MF | POR | Romário Baró (from Porto) |
| 17 | MF | SWE | Joe Mendes (from Braga until 30 June 2025) |

### Transfers
#### In

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 7 | FW | NGA | Philip Otele (on loan from Al Wahda) |
| 11 | FW | CIV | Bénie Traoré (from Sheffield United) |
| 19 | FW | CRO | Marin Šotiček (from Lokomotiva Zagreb) |
| 22 | MF | FRA | Léo Leroy (from Montpellier) |
| 27 | DF | SUI | Kevin Rüegg (permanent from Hellas Verona) |
| 29 | DF | FRA | Moussa Cissé (from VfB Stuttgart II) |
| 10 | FW | SUI | Xherdan Shaqiri (free transfer, previously at Chicago Fire) |
| 9 | FW | ESP | Kevin Carlos (from Yverdon-Sport) |

#### Out

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 5 | DF | SUI | Michael Lang (contract terminated) |
| 6 | DF | TUN | Mohamed Dräger (to Eintracht Braunschweig) |
| 7 | MF | SUI | Benjamin Kololli (to Sion) |
| 7 | FW | CAN | Liam Millar (to Hull City) |
| 16 | GK | SUI | Nils de Mol (end of contract) |
| 19 | MF | AUT | Yusuf Demir (end of loan) |
| 20 | MF | SUI | Fabian Frei (to Winterthur) |
| 22 | DF | GER | Sergio López (to SV Darmstadt 98) |
| 40 | MF | POR | Renato Veiga (to Chelsea) |
| 9 | FW | FRA | Thierno Barry (to Villareal) |
| — | FW | FRA | Jean-Kévin Augustin (contract terminated) |

## Results and fixtures

Kickoff times are in CET.

### Legend

Win  Draw  Loss  Postponed

### Swiss Super League

The 2024–25 Super League season was the 128th season of top-tier competitive football in Switzerland. The Swiss Football League (SFL) drew and published the fixtures of the first 22 rounds on 18 June 2024. The rest were drawn at a later date.

#### Third round

The fixtures and dates for the third round were announced on 20 December.

### Swiss Cup

The fixtues and dates of the first round were drawn in June 2024