Despite the departure of midfielder Stefan Giglio, who has returned to Valletta, Mauro Di Lello and Lee Lombardi, who has decided to join Birkirkara, Sliema are set to look stronger than the past season.

This is the opinion of club president Robert Arrigo and coach Ray ‘Zazu’ Farrugia.

Arrigo says the club has already made three new signings in the form of Ian Azzopardi (from Floriana), Sharlon Pace (from Valletta) and Matthew Bartolo (from Hibernians) and more seem to be on the way. In fact, on Friday evening, it was known that Birkirkara’s Etienne Barbara was on the verge of signing for the Blues although he had not yet agreed personal terms with Sliema. As The Malta Independent (daily) said yesterday, both clubs have reached agreement on the transfer fee.

Arrigo also said that the Blues still have a vacancy for a foreign player after they, as well as Valletta and Birkirkara, were snubbed by Nigerian striker Ibrahim Babatunde of Msida St Joseph.

In midweek, Arrigo also quashed rumours that the high-spending Valletta new president would make a bid for striker Ivan Woods. “This was only done to unsettle the player. I must make it clear that Woods is staying with Sliema. In fact, he is not for sale,” he said.

The Sliema coach, Ray Farrugia, is also of the opinion that his side will be championship contenders once again this season. The former Malta Under 21 coach says he needs two more players to complete his present squad.

Barbara is close to signing for Sliema, while a foreigner will be the other signing, thus making up the number for domestic purposes. Moreover, it has also been reported that Sliema are challenging Valletta seriously for the services of another Birkirkara player, international midfielder Roderick Briffa.

Farrugia says Sliema will certainly be competitive and he even hopes to see his side giving Bulgaria’s Litex a tough time in the forthcoming UEFA Cup first qualifying round matches: the first leg of the tie is being played next Thursday at Ta’ Qali. He said: “However, despite the hard work in the pre-season, such matches come too early for us. These preparations are not enough, even if we will still do our very best.

Sliema Wanderers have extended their kit sponsorship deal with Teamsport by another four years. This season, the team will be wearing new diadora kits.