The phone has started ringing about Lucas Stassin again, and this time the name on the line is Ajax. Anderlecht are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad16 Jul 2029
Words at Anderlecht training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leo Fuhr Hjelde 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anderlecht this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Anderlecht know which stage they are at.
8 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 88 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Anderlecht have paid $16.8M for Brian Lopez, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Anderlecht can pretend not to have heard.
Anderlecht have gone to Eupen with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Brian Lopez has just signed for Anderlecht, and for once the answer mattered.
The fee is $2.5M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Zulte Waregem drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Racing Genk did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $1.9M for Nikolas Sattlberger, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Zulte Waregem people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Malick Mbaye has gone, the accounts have $2.5M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Zulte Waregem and Beerschot have settled on $300.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Anderlecht paid $2.5M and Zulte Waregem took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all 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 Zulte Waregem, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thomas Claes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Anderlecht will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Everything agreed with Universidad Catolica, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Anderlecht can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Anderlecht people have started saying his name in the past tense.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zulte Waregem can pretend not to have heard.
The deal with Toulouse FC is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it 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 Zulte Waregem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
$290.0K was the most the club would pay and Beerschot were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Thomas Claes 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.
“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 Zulte Waregem, and it is not being withdrawn.
Yassine Benhattab and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thomas Claes 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.
A point taken on 89 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zulte Waregem, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout25 Dec 2028
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Jason Price chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Dirk Asare 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.
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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Zulte Waregem know it.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Simon Kalambayi provided it, and the 8.50 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zulte Waregem have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yassine Benhattab 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Simon Kalambayi has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Marked 8.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zulte Waregem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Zulte Waregem hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Yassine Benhattab and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thomas Claes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Lokeren-Temse held the lead for 2 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Zulte Waregem answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout27 Nov 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 2‑3 Jason Price left the room before anybody could ask which.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zulte Waregem, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zulte Waregem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thomas Claes 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.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout13 Nov 2028
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Jason Price chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Nobody at Zulte Waregem is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Yassine Benhattab 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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thomas Claes 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Stefan Savić and Zulte Waregem agree another 2 years.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Zulte Waregem, another week without a signature from Malick Mbaye.
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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
5 new faces, and Zulte Waregem are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Stefan Savić is 37 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
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 Zulte Waregem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Zulte Waregem can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Zulte Waregem, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Jason Price chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thomas Claes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zulte Waregem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Zulte Waregem know which stage they are at.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Victor Divine is on it.
Patro Eisden next, and one man in the Zulte Waregem dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Zulte Waregem, another week without a signature from Dylan Demuynck.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Zulte Waregem that is a harder question to answer.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Zulte Waregem heard it as anything else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yassine Benhattab was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zulte Waregem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Zulte Waregem told Vancy Mabanza something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zulte Waregem lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zulte Waregem can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thomas Claes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zulte Waregem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Zulte Waregem ran out of time with Westerlo. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Zulte Waregem can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Enrique Lofolomo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“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 Zulte Waregem, and it is not being withdrawn.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The deal with Waasland-Beveren is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Zulte Waregem heard it as anything else.
The offer went to Lokeren-Temse this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Zulte Waregem asked and Westerlo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Enrique Lofolomo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad21 Aug 2028
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thomas Claes 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.
“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 Zulte Waregem, and it is not being withdrawn.
$2.3M on the table at Francs Borains. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The offer from Enyimba for Victor Divine 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 Zulte Waregem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Köln have kept their man, and Zulte Waregem go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Paul Pöpperl was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A loan enquiry to Rapid Bucharest: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Zulte Waregem offered $17.1M; Westerlo said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Boardroom31 Jul 2028
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Zulte Waregem
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thomas Claes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. ESTAC Troyes have kept their man, and Zulte Waregem go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Enrique Lofolomo 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Hans Hazard has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Laurent Vanaken has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Toby Batshuayi has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Zulte Waregem and Olympic Charleroi have settled on $370.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $455.0K — a club that wants David Vitásek enough to be asked twice.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thomas Claes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Zulte Waregem told Victor Divine something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Zulte Waregem that is a harder question to answer.
The language is coming and there is somebody to talk to in the dressing room. A footballer who feels at home plays like one, and it never shows up in a scouting report.
“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 Zulte Waregem, and it is not being withdrawn.
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $950.0K has been paid because Simon Kalambayi is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
Zulte Waregem asked and Olympic Charleroi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zulte Waregem is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Zulte Waregem had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at AJ Auxerre, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad10 Jul 2028
Thomas Claes 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.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Zulte Waregem will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Zulte Waregem and OH Leuven have settled on $950.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Zulte Waregem asked and Anderlecht said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $1.4M — a club that wants Victor Daguin enough to be asked twice.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Brent Gabriel and Zulte Waregem agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Paul Pöpperl was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Anosike Ementa has gone, the accounts have $1.8M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
The offer went to Olympic Charleroi this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The chase for Vancy Mabanza ended with $1.3M changing hands and Lokeren-Temse out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
The fee is $1.1M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Patro Eisden drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Sint-Truiden paid $1.8M and Zulte Waregem took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $1.5M — a club that wants Lovro Golič enough to be asked twice.
Charleroi paid $500.0K and Zulte Waregem took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Vancy Mabanza from Lokeren-Temse for $1.3M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thomas Claes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Zulte Waregem people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The deal with Lokeren-Temse is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
$1.1M on the table at Patro Eisden. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zulte Waregem is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
KAA Gent paid $500.0K and Zulte Waregem took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lennerd Daneels 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zulte Waregem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Toby Alderweireld and Zulte Waregem agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
In brief
The dugoutMalick Mbaye knocks on the manager’s door
“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 Zulte Waregem, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zulte Waregem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 May 2028
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wilguens Paugain 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 language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zulte Waregem they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Zulte Waregem hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
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.
“I watch every Zulte Waregem game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at KV Kortrijk runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Wilguens Paugain trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Zulte Waregem is running low.
Nikola Katić 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.
Squad1 May 2028
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wilguens Paugain 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.
Something was said to Thomas Claes and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Zulte Waregem would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Wilguens Paugain may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alain Gueï will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zulte Waregem the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Nikola Katić 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.
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Edwin Laszo 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.
“I did not go to KV Kortrijk to sit and watch. I want to come back to Zulte Waregem and fight for my place.” 13 appearances in 39 matches say the rest.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Jason Price could afford to be generous.
In brief
Player ratingsMalick Mbaye beats them one at a time
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zulte Waregem is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Nikola Katić and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
A season average of 7.08 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Zulte Waregem know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wilguens Paugain was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Zulte Waregem, and 16 appearances in 38 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout10 Apr 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 2‑3 Jason Price left the room before anybody could ask which.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Zulte Waregem heard it as anything else.
Nikola Katić 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.
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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Quentin Paris has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Alexis Blin 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.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nikola Katić 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Zulte Waregem are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Quentin Paris is the division's best young player this month
At 21 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Zulte Waregem will try very hard not to make too much of it.
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.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Nikola Katić
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Quentin Paris did not need any: 9.53, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Quentin Paris is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zulte Waregem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Quentin Paris. 4‑3 against Patro Eisden, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Zulte Waregem and Patro Eisden, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wilguens Paugain was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zulte Waregem will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
Quentin Paris, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.91
A mark of 7.91 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zulte Waregem they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 11 actions, 6.88, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Zulte Waregem are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zulte Waregem can pretend not to have heard.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 50 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Francs Borains waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Zulte Waregem is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Player ratings17 Jan 2028
Quentin Paris, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.85
A mark of 7.85 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zulte Waregem is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Alexis Blin and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zulte Waregem will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jakob Kiilerich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Feyenoord have kept their man, and Zulte Waregem go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
RFC Liege will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Zulte Waregem were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
The terraces27 Dec 2027
The mood at Zulte Waregem has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 72 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Two goals and a mark of 8.77 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alain Gueï will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zulte Waregem 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 Zulte Waregem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Quentin Paris has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 80 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Zulte Waregem, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zulte Waregem have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zulte Waregem they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jakob Kiilerich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Zulte Waregem can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 88 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zulte Waregem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jakob Kiilerich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I did not go to OH Leuven to sit and watch. I want to come back to Zulte Waregem and fight for my place.” 4 appearances in 21 matches say the rest.
The dugout13 Dec 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Jason Price left the room before anybody could ask which.
Something was said to Siebe Van Keymolen and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zulte Waregem will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zulte Waregem they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jakob Kiilerich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Zulte Waregem will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zulte Waregem can pretend not to have heard.
“I did not go to OH Leuven to sit and watch. I want to come back to Zulte Waregem and fight for my place.” 4 appearances in 17 matches say the rest.
Squad15 Nov 2027
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wilguens Paugain 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.
Lommel next, and one man in the Zulte Waregem dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Zulte Waregem has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Zulte Waregem, another week without a signature from Dylan Demuynck.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Zulte Waregem will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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 Zulte Waregem, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Zulte Waregem is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
9 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words at Zulte Waregem training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Wilguens Paugain 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 have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Zulte Waregem know it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zulte Waregem this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Zulte Waregem they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jakob Kiilerich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 91. Jong Gent had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Quentin Paris is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Anosike Ementa and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Jason Price after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Quentin Paris, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.73
A mark of 7.73 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cremonese have kept their man, and Zulte Waregem go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A 2‑1 win over Waasland-Beveren, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wilguens Paugain was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Victor Divine and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.