The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Egnatia Rrogozhinë is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Egnatia Rrogozhinë this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Guillem Jaime is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
He is 19, and nobody at Egnatia Rrogozhinë signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Ibrahim Adel was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Mario Dajsinani has just signed for FC Nordsjaelland, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Ola Solbakken falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Everyone has stopped pretending: FF Jaro will make the call about Mathias Jensen this week. FC Nordsjaelland have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
The offer from Partizani Tirana for Mario Dajsinani was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Egnatia Rrogozhinë this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Guillem Jaime is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Egnatia Rrogozhinë they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Fernando Medeiros was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Guillem Jaime falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Fernando Medeiros was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Guillem Jaime falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Fernando Medeiros was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad11 Dec 2028
Guillem Jaime falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Egnatia Rrogozhinë will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fernando Medeiros was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Guillem Jaime falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Egnatia Rrogozhinë lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 86 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Mario Dajsinani reports back to Egnatia Rrogozhinë with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Egnatia Rrogozhinë this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Guillem Jaime is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Egnatia Rrogozhinë has been clear about where Soumaïla Bakayoko stands, which is more than many ever get.
In brief
Player ratingsA defender's afternoon for Eljon Sota
The words a physio says slowly. 49 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
The words a physio says slowly. 56 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Egnatia Rrogozhinë this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 70 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The deal that would have taken Mario Dajsinani to Tirana has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Egnatia Rrogozhinë with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Egnatia Rrogozhinë this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 84 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Egnatia Rrogozhinë this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 91 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Egnatia Rrogozhinë they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Fernando Medeiros was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Guillem Jaime falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Oliver Jürgens and Egnatia Rrogozhinë agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
106 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Egnatia Rrogozhinë lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fernando Medeiros was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
SquadGuillem Jaime falls out with a teammate over standards
120 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Egnatia Rrogozhinë lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Egnatia Rrogozhinë, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jefferson Jefferson will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Egnatia Rrogozhinë the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Fernando Medeiros was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Guillem Jaime falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The words a physio says slowly. 128 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Egnatia Rrogozhinë will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
The words a physio says slowly. 135 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Egnatia Rrogozhinë they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Fernando Medeiros was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
SquadGuillem Jaime falls out with a teammate over standards
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Anio Poçi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Egnatia Rrogozhinë the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Egnatia Rrogozhinë this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Guillem Jaime is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Position 1, 26 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jefferson Jefferson will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Egnatia Rrogozhinë the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Fernando Medeiros was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
SquadGuillem Jaime falls out with a teammate over standards
SquadPablo Corral asks for a word with the manager
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Egnatia Rrogozhinë they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Egnatia Rrogozhinë this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Guillem Jaime is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Fernando Medeiros was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Guillem Jaime falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Egnatia Rrogozhinë this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Guillem Jaime is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Egnatia Rrogozhinë will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fernando Medeiros was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Add another name to the list: Tirana have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Mohammed Yahaya. The answer from Egnatia Rrogozhinë has not changed — yet.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Guillem Jaime falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Flamur Ruçi has improved at 25, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Egnatia Rrogozhinë this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Guillem Jaime is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The captaincy has been taken off Albano Aleksi. Egnatia Rrogozhinë will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.