The Arema Sentinel
Market31 Aug 2026
$690.0K — a new record at Arema
No footballer has ever cost this club more, and the number will be read out every time he misplaces a pass for the next two years.
Market31 Aug 2026
Arema say no — this time
The offer from Persib for Valdeci 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
Johan Alfarizi hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Arema can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Nobody could get near Valdeci
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Arema
Lucas Frigeri 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 terraces31 Aug 2026
Arema spend $690.0K on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $690.0K for Rafael Struick, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Match29 Aug 2026
3 matches without a goal for Arema
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Gabriel Silva
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Betinho's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
In brief
- Player ratings Betinho never got going
- Squad Arema pick somebody else ahead of Rifad Marasabessy
- Match Arema and PSIM cancel each other out