Bilbao finished in a respectable 4th place last season, in an enthralling season in Liga BBVA where there was a 3-horse race for the title up until the final day. Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid were all fighting for the league trophy, but it's obvious to say that Bilbao would like to get involved in the title race aswell; seeing as they are one of the best clubs in Spain at the moment.
However, it's harder to challenge your rivals when you lose your best players - having lost Javi Martinez, Fernando Llorente and recently Ander Herrera to Manchester United in the past two months, it just emphasises the fact that Bilbao struggle to cope with the financial firepower that many of their counterparts boast.
They will need all the help they can get if they are to improve on last season's showing, which was consistent but not good enough to mount a firm challenge for the league - which they are not expected to do, thus helping them as the underdogs.
Bilbao have a few top-quality young gems in their side, including the likes of Laporte, Muniain and Aketxe - so they will be eager to keep them in the team as they develop into world-class talents. They also have some good first-team players such as Benat, Susaeta, De Marcos and Aduriz - with the latter recording 16 goals in the league and being the top scorer for the club.
The club have a tough test on their hands in order to qualify for the UEFA Champions League, for the first time since the 1998-99 season. They have to beat Serie A side Napoli over two legs, to get to the group stages of the competition, with the first leg being played next week. If they fail to do that, then they will be referred to the Europa League, and forced to play on Thursdays and Sundays - which will mess up their schedule completely.
So the big question is, can they improve on their 4th place position in the 2014-15 season? Well, they need to improve their squad depth if they are to attempt this, because every other club is bolstering their side and it seems as though they are just selling all of their best players.They need to invest the £30million pounds from the sale of Herrera wisely, a few good players or a marquee signing is what's needed for them to compete at the very top.