Williot Swedberg

Right Midfielder - Celta
9 Oct 2027
Saturday
Process

Marked for Williot Swedberg

62 Edition

The Celta Herald

4 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

99 days out for Carl Starfelt after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Celta will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Miguel Gil

107 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Celta lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

Marcos Alonso stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Marcos Alonso and Celta agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Williot Swedberg

Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Iago Aspas in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Hugo Sotelo raises the bar for Celta

“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Celta heard it as anything else.

Match

A bad afternoon for Celta against Girona

1‑2 to Girona, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Manu Sánchez

“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.

The dugout

Izei Alonso: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

In brief

Back issues
61 Edition

The Celta Herald

27 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

108 days out for Carl Starfelt after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Celta will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Player ratings

Both of them Javi Puado's — 9.16

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.16, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Market

Borja Iglesias 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 Celta can pretend not to have heard.

The dugout

Sergio Carreira: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Celta have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Ionuţ Radu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba 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.

Match

Celta find a way past Atlético Madrid

Atlético Madrid made Celta work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑2 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

The game went through Williot Swedberg — 7.35

Marked 7.35 on 13 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.

The terraces

One of their own: Williot Swedberg

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.

In brief

60 Edition

The Celta Herald

20 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

A brace, and Javi Puado takes the afternoon — 8.77

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Javi Puado provided it, and the 8.77 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

The dugout

Borja Iglesias keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Celta may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

The step up is real for Williot Swedberg

At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.

Squad

A falling-out at Celta

Ionuţ Radu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Ionuţ Radu

“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.

Squad

A late step up for Thiago Ojeda

At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.

Match

No time for Deportivo La Coruña to settle

The goal that put Deportivo La Coruña ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Celta equalised, 3 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Hugo Álvarez

Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

59 Edition

The Celta Herald

13 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

The dugout

Rodrigo Mazur says Celta went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Market

Pablo Cabral 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 Celta can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Real improvement from Davinchi at Celta

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Davinchi is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Words exchanged at Celta

Ionuţ Radu 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.

Squad

Words at Celta training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Williot Swedberg 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.

Squad

A late step up for Sergio Carreira

At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.

Match

Pablo Durán the difference as Celta beat Levante

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Pablo Durán. 2‑0 against Levante, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Market

Luka Fernández steps up from the Celta academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Luka Fernández has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Market

Celta promote Alejandro Delgado from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Alejandro Delgado 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.

In brief

56 Edition

The Celta Herald

23 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Ionuţ Radu

There were 13 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market

Sebastián Cáceres 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 Celta can pretend not to have heard.

Transfer targets

Racing tell Celta: Agustín De la Cuesta is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Squad

Williot Swedberg is a better footballer than he was

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Celta

Javi Puado and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Player ratings

Javi Puado ran the middle of the pitch — 6.94

He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 15 combined actions and a mark of 6.94, and not one of them will make a highlights package.

Squad

Words at Celta training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilaix Moriba 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.

Match

Celta come up short against Real Madrid

Real Madrid left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Borja Iglesias

“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.

In brief

  • Boardroom A promise the Celta board did not keep
  • The dugout The manager has not finished forgetting Javi Rodríguez's mistake
  • The dugout The view from the dugout
54 Edition

The Celta Herald

9 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Joaquín asks to leave Celta

“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.

Squad

Williot Swedberg signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Williot Swedberg and Celta agree another 5 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Ionuţ Radu 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.

Squad

Tomas Valdecantos is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba 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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on José Campaña

Celta asked and Ceuta said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Market

Celta promote Gonzalo Vargas from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Gonzalo Vargas 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.

Market

One of our own: Andrés Sánchez joins the Celta first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Andrés Sánchez is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

Celta promote Luis Cabrera from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Luis Cabrera 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.

In brief

53 Edition

The Celta Herald

2 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Santiago Delgado asks to leave Celta

“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.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Ilaix Moriba and Celta agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Ionuţ Radu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Williot Swedberg 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.

Market

Celta may not be able to give Raúl García what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Raúl García wants continental football; whether Celta can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Squad

Home is on Tomas Valdecantos's mind

“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; Celta are dealing with a man who wants a different country.

In brief

47 Edition

The Celta Herald

21 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Javi Rueda agrees terms with Ceuta

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Celta people have started saying his name in the past tense.

Transfer targets

Celta rebuffed over Urko Izeta

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cádiz have kept their man, and Celta go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Real improvement from Williot Swedberg at Celta

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Williot Swedberg is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Words exchanged at Celta

Ionuţ Radu 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.

Squad

Ferran Jutglà 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.

Squad

Late improvement for Altay Bayındır

At 29 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Felipe Méndez

“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.

Market

Miguel Román wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Market

Carlos Dotor is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Celta has been clear about where Carlos Dotor stands, which is more than many ever get.

In brief

  • Market Ilaix Moriba linked with a move away
  • The dugout Javi Rueda has become a man the manager trusts
  • Loan watch The goals keep arriving from Damián’s exile
44 Edition

The Celta Herald

31 May 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A falling-out at Celta

Ionuţ Radu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Celta

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Williot Swedberg was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Marc Ferrer

“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.

Squad

Tomas Valdecantos wants to go home

“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 Celta know it.

The dugout

Iago Aspas knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Iago Aspas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

Javi Rodríguez linked with a move away

The name of Javi Rodríguez keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Celta say nothing, which says plenty.

The dugout

When it matters, Álvaro Núñez plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

The dugout

A door opens for Roberto Caballero

He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.

Match

A season winding down at Celta

Position 9, 50 points, safe from one end and out of reach of the other. The last weeks are about next season now, and the team sheet has started saying so.

In brief

42 Edition

The Celta Herald

17 May 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

Altay Bayındır keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Celta may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Ionuţ Radu 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.

Squad

Williot Swedberg signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Williot Swedberg commits to Celta for another 5 years.

Squad

A row about effort at Celta

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ilaix Moriba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Roberto Caballero

“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.

Market

The Javi Puado talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Celta know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

The dugout

Javi Rueda gets picked when it counts

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 Javi Rueda is on it.

Loan watch

5 goals on loan for Damián

36 appearances at Cádiz and the goals keep coming. Celta are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

The dugout

Sebastián Cáceres has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Sebastián Cáceres has written the date down.

In brief

41 Edition

The Celta Herald

10 May 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Ionuţ Radu keeps Celta in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 13 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Match

Full time on the season at Celta

Position 9 on 50 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.

Market

Javi Rueda has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Celta they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Iago Aspas 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Celta

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Williot Swedberg was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Real Madrid take the points off Celta

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

No hiding place for Pablo Durán

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Pablo Durán, and the manager let it.

The dugout

No place for Borja Iglesias on the big day

He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Celta pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.

Squad

Celta lose Roberto Carrasco

41 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

In brief

40 Edition

The Celta Herald

3 May 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Ionuţ Radu

There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Player ratings

Jones El-Abdellaoui, 21, steals the show — 8.31

Marked 8.31 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

Player ratings

Hugo Álvarez beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 26. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

Joaquín Stizza says Celta went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Player ratings

Miguel Román pops up at the right end — 7.73

7.73, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.

Squad

A falling-out at Celta

Ionuţ Radu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Marc Ferrer stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Marc Ferrer and Celta agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba 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.

Match

Celta make home a hard place to visit

9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.

In brief

38 Edition

The Celta Herald

19 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Hugo Álvarez runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 33. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Words exchanged at Celta

Ionuţ Radu 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.

Squad

Williot Swedberg 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.

Match

The run at home goes on for Celta

8 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.

The dugout

No hiding place for Roberto Caballero

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Roberto Caballero, and the manager let it.

Squad

Celta are still strangers to each other

6 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.

The dugout

Borja Iglesias asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

The dugout

Izei Alonso on the point

“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Izei Alonso after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.

Squad

No place for Alberto Botía in the new shape

He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Celta are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.

In brief

36 Edition

The Celta Herald

5 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

No mercy from Celta

Elche will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Celta were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Squad

Javi Puado takes the match ball home

3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

Squad

Javi Puado signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Javi Puado and Celta agree another 4 years.

Squad

Ionuţ Radu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Hugo Álvarez was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 22. 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.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba 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 terraces

The crowd has taken to Williot Swedberg

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.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Marc Ferrer

“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.

Player ratings

One of those days for Javi Puado

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.13, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

35 Edition

The Celta Herald

29 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Hugo Álvarez beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 32. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Market

Javi Rueda asks to leave Celta

“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.

Match

The wait goes on for Celta

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Ionuţ Radu 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.

Squad

Williot Swedberg 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 dugout

Borja Iglesias left out for the big one

A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Borja Iglesias will call it something else in private.

The dugout

Jones El-Abdellaoui gets it from the manager

“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 dugout

Izei Alonso: “We have to be better”

“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.

The dugout

A promise honoured for Sebastián Boselli

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Celta told Sebastián Boselli something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

In brief

33 Edition

The Celta Herald

15 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Celta let it slip despite Javi Puado

Javi Puado had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Mallorca were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.

Player ratings

Both of them Javi Puado's — 8.73

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.73, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Market

Javi Rueda is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Celta is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

A falling-out at Celta

Ionuţ Radu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Celta training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilaix Moriba 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.

Player ratings

Williot Swedberg runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Ionuţ Radu

“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.

Match

Honours even between Celta and Mallorca

2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

The dugout

Iván Villar dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

In brief

  • Squad Celta are still strangers to each other
  • The dugout Iván Villar knocks on the manager’s door
  • The dugout The view from the dugout
32 Edition

The Celta Herald

8 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

19 seasons of Iago Aspas

644 appearances across 19 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Celta know what they have.

Squad

Marcos Alonso signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Marcos Alonso and Celta agree another 2 years.

Squad

Ionuţ Radu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Williot Swedberg

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.

Market

Roberto Carrasco steps up from the Celta academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Roberto Carrasco has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Squad

Words at Celta training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Williot Swedberg 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.

Player ratings

Hugo Álvarez beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Player ratings

Williot Swedberg takes the honours

Marked 7.92 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Celta had the best player on the pitch.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Iván Villar

The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.

In brief

29 Edition

The Celta Herald

15 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Only the photograph left for Javi Rueda

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Javi Rueda will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Celta the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Marcos Alonso pulls a muscle — 14 days out

The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.

Match

No end in sight to Celta's wait for a win

4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Celta has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

A falling-out at Celta

Marcos Alonso and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Celta

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ferran Jutglà was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

No hiding place for Aleix Febas

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Aleix Febas, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Williot Swedberg

Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

5 new faces, and Celta 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.

The dugout

Celta keep their word to Pablo Durán

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.

In brief

  • The dugout Iago Aspas knocks on the manager’s door
  • The dugout The view from the dugout
  • Market The Ilaix Moriba talk will not go away
26 Edition

The Celta Herald

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Javi Rueda agrees terms with Castellón

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Celta people have started saying his name in the past tense.

Player ratings

A brace, and Javi Puado takes the afternoon — 8.68

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Javi Puado provided it, and the 8.68 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Market

Business is business: Yoel Lago goes

Sevilla paid $7.1M and Celta took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.

Market

Celta say no — this time

The offer from Real Sociedad for Iván Villar 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.

Squad

A falling-out at Celta

Iago Aspas and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Javi Puado’s goal not enough for Celta

Javi Puado scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Barcelona, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

The dugout

No hiding place for Ionuţ Radu

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ionuţ Radu, and the manager let it.

Squad

A row about effort at Celta

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Williot Swedberg was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

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 Izei Alonso left the room before anybody could ask which.

In brief

25 Edition

The Celta Herald

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

10 saves: Ionuţ Radu was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 10 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Player ratings

Pablo Durán scores twice — 9.45

Two goals and a mark of 9.45 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Jones El-Abdellaoui at 21 — 8.21

The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jones El-Abdellaoui did not need any: 8.21, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Transfer targets

Celta make their move for Thiago Ojeda

$2.1M on the table at Valladolid. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Match

Celta make it 3 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Celta have 3 straight wins of it.

Squad

Words exchanged at Celta

Iago Aspas 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.

Squad

Words at Celta training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilaix Moriba 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.

Match

Pablo Durán sends Celta past Levante

It finished 3‑2, and it was Pablo Durán’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Celta.

Transfer targets

Celta rebuffed over Rubén Peña

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Leganés have kept their man, and Celta go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

In brief

23 Edition

The Celta Herald

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Transfer targets

$64.2M settles it between the clubs for Mason Greenwood

Fenerbahce have accepted the money. What Celta do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.

Player ratings

Borja Iglesias, 33, rolls back the years — 8.47

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.47 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Hugo Álvarez

Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Ionuţ Radu 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.

Squad

Dylan Pepe gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Dylan Pepe has just signed for Celta, and for once the answer mattered.

Match

At last: Celta win one

6 matches without a win, and then this, against Rayo Vallecano. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.

Transfer targets

Celta rebuffed over Raoul Bellanova

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Atalanta have kept their man, and Celta go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Match

Celta get the job done against Rayo Vallecano

A 2‑1 win over Rayo Vallecano, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Iago Aspas

“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.

In brief

22 Edition

The Celta Herald

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Chastening afternoon for Celta

A 1‑4 beating by Real Madrid was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Squad

Altay Bayındır stands alone

9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Match

Celta out of the cup

Betis ended it 1‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.

Match

No end in sight to Celta's wait for a win

6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Celta has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Words exchanged at Celta

Marcos Alonso 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.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Couhaib Driouech

Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Celta are shipping goals every week

Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.

Match

The half-term report on Celta

Position 11, 25 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.

In brief

  • Boardroom Nobody left the Celta dressing room in a hurry
  • The dugout Izei Alonso answers for it
  • The dugout The manager makes an example of Javi Rueda
20 Edition

The Celta Herald

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Both of them Ferran Jutglà's — 7.84

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 7.84, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Squad

Ionuţ Radu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Ferran Jutglà’s goal not enough for Celta

Ferran Jutglà scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Valencia, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Market

One of our own: Miguel Gil joins the Celta first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Miguel Gil is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Squad

Williot Swedberg 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 dugout

Aleix Febas gets it from the manager

“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 dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 2‑3 defeat, delivered by Izei Alonso to a room that had heard them before.

The terraces

Everybody has an opinion about Ionuţ Radu

He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.

The dugout

No place in the plan for Borja Iglesias

The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.

In brief

17 Edition

The Celta Herald

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Javi Puado leads the rout of Elche

3‑0, and Javi Puado took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Celta tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Player ratings

Both of them Javi Puado's — 8.58

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.58, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Market

Ignacio Herrera asks to leave Celta

“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.

Squad

A falling-out at Celta

Ionuţ Radu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Still nobody has beaten Celta

The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Player ratings

Hugo Álvarez was unplayable

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.

Squad

Williot Swedberg 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.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Couhaib Driouech

Marked 8.28 — 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.

The dugout

A promise honoured at Celta

Something was said to Javi Puado and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.

In brief

15 Edition

The Celta Herald

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Celta march on in the cup

Cádiz are out and Celta go through, 2‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.

Match

Celta strike at the death to beat Cádiz

There were 87 minutes on the clock and Cádiz had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Celta did not stop to explain themselves.

Player ratings

Jones El-Abdellaoui, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 8.59

A mark of 8.59 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Marcos Alonso 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.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba 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.

Player ratings

Williot Swedberg beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

Borja Iglesias gets it from the manager

“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 terraces

One of their own: Ilaix Moriba

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.

Market

Celta promote Ignacio Camacho from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ignacio Camacho 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.

In brief

14 Edition

The Celta Herald

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Javi Galán in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Williot Swedberg 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 dugout

Celta keep their word to Javi Puado

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.

Squad

8 new faces, and Celta 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.

Player ratings

Hugo Álvarez beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Jones El-Abdellaoui makes the team of the month

Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Izei Alonso was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Celta dressing room was either.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Álvaro Núñez

“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.

The dugout

Borja Iglesias left out for tactical reasons at Celta

The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.

In brief

11 Edition

The Celta Herald

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Celta taken apart

0‑3 to Sevilla, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Ionuţ Radu 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.

Market

One of our own: Oihan Castillo joins the Celta first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Oihan Castillo is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Squad

Words at Celta training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Williot Swedberg 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.

Boardroom

Doors closed at Celta

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Hugo Álvarez

Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

Izei Alonso faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Izei Alonso after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

Squad

4 Celta players away with their countries

The training ground goes quiet for a fortnight. 4 men have gone off to be somebody else’s players, and the manager is left with the ones nobody has called.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Javi Rueda

“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.

In brief

8 Edition

The Celta Herald

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Javi Puado wins it after the whistle should have gone

94 minutes played. Javi Puado found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Alavés went from a point to nothing inside one movement.

Squad

Marcos Alonso in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Javi Rodríguez

“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.

Match

Celta see off Alavés

Three points for Celta, 2‑1 the final word against Alavés in a contest settled by the finer margins.

The terraces

Celta supporters have found a favourite in Jones El-Abdellaoui

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Jones El-Abdellaoui 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.

Squad

Williot Swedberg 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.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Javi Puado at his very best

Marked 8.16. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Celta.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Hugo Álvarez

Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Izei Alonso, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.

In brief

5 Edition

The Celta Herald

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Hugo Álvarez

Successful dribbles: 42. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

Celta sign Javi Puado with one eye on the future

Nobody at the club will say out loud who this signing is for, which is how you know exactly who it is for. Javi Puado has been brought in to take a shirt somebody is still wearing.

Transfer targets

Rubén Alves due for a Celta medical

Everything agreed with Córdoba, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.

Squad

Words exchanged at Celta

Iago Aspas 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 terraces

$50.1M for Javi Puado, and Celta supporters approve

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: Javi Puado from Espanyol for $50.1M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.

Transfer targets

Celta rebuffed over Justo Giani

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Universidad Catolica have kept their man, and Celta go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Williot Swedberg 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.

Transfer targets

Celta try to borrow Facundo Pons

San Martín have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.

Squad

The formation has left Javi Puado behind

Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Celta will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.

In brief

  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
  • The dugout Iván Villar gets it from the manager
  • The dugout The plan did not have a place for Borja Iglesias
4 Edition

The Celta Herald

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Triumph

Transfer targets

Celta baulk at the price for Aarón Ochoa

Málaga wanted more than $5.2M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.

Player ratings

Ilaix Moriba pops up at the right end — 7.89

7.89, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Iago Aspas 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.

Squad

Words at Celta training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilaix Moriba 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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Alejandro Melo

Celta asked and Temperley said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Match

Celta get the job done against Rayo Vallecano

A 2‑1 win over Rayo Vallecano, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Ilaix Moriba

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.

Player ratings

Hugo Álvarez in the eights

A performance of 8.00 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Couhaib Driouech

Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

3 Edition

The Celta Herald

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Transfer targets

Celta make their move for Javi Puado

$50.1M on the table at Espanyol. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Transfer targets

Getafe tell Celta: Christantus Uche is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Market

Celta say no — this time

The offer from Sevilla for Williot Swedberg 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.

Transfer targets

An offer of $5.2M for Aarón Ochoa

Celta have gone to Málaga 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.

Squad

A move Joaquín would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Joaquín is living that version at Celta, and it tends to show in the first month.

Transfer targets

Alexander Díaz turns down Celta

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Deportivo Riestra keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Squad

Iago Aspas in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Javi Galán pulls a muscle — 17 days out

The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 17 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.

Squad

Words at Celta training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilaix Moriba 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.

In brief

  • Boardroom Celta say no to the training-ground money
  • Market The Ilaix Moriba story refuses to die
  • The terraces Everybody has an opinion about Joaquín
2 Edition

The Celta Herald

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Transfer targets

Sevilla tell Celta: Isaac Romero is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Transfer targets

Celta baulk at the price for Ansu Fati

Monaco wanted more than $18.3M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.

Market

Celta say no — this time

The offer from Feyenoord for Carl Starfelt 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.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Ilaix Moriba and Celta agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Words exchanged at Celta

Iago Aspas 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.

Market

Celta promote Àlex Vera from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Àlex Vera 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.

Market

Celta promote Santiago Delgado from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Santiago Delgado 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.

Market

Celta promote Eduardo Castro from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Eduardo Castro 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Celta

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Williot Swedberg was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief