Chiheb Labidi

Central Midfielder - Nacional
15 Jan 2027
Friday
Process

Marked for Chiheb Labidi

23 Edition

The Nacional Post

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Chiheb Labidi asks to leave Nacional

“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

The step up is real for Chico Gonçalves

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.

Transfer targets

AVS tell Nacional: Ivan Mandić 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.

Match

Vitoria Guimaraes take the points off Nacional

Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Player ratings

Matchoi Djaló runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Mohamed Amine Katiba stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Mohamed Amine Katiba and Nacional agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Luis Dias to a room that had heard them before.

Market

Zé Vitor told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Zé Vitor has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Nacional.

Transfer targets

Nacional ask about Francisco Moura

A loan enquiry to Porto: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

In brief

Back issues
16 Edition

The Nacional Post

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Words at Nacional training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luis Vásquez 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 dugout

Daniel Júnior 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

A promise honoured for Ulisses

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

The dugout

Allen Obando 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.

Market

The Chuchu Ramírez question follows Nacional around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Chuchu Ramírez’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

Squad

A wage question at Nacional

Pablo Ruan has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.

Loan watch

Ivanildo Fernandes first choice at Oliveirense

9 starts and a season average of 6.60. The loan is doing exactly what it was arranged to do.

Loan watch

Markus Jensen has made Montana’s shirt his own

9 starts now, an average of 6.61, and the team sheet at Montana has stopped being a question. Exactly what everybody signed up for.

Looking ahead

Looking ahead: the trip to AVS

Position 13 for the hosts, a long journey for the away end, and a fixture that will look ordinary on paper right up until it is not.

In brief

5 Edition

The Nacional Post

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

João Aurélio breaks a bone — 75 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 75 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Chiheb Labidi 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 Nacional can pretend not to have heard.

Player ratings

Lenny Vallier pops up at the right end — 7.77

7.77, 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.

Transfer targets

João Pedro is a medical away from Nacional

The deal with Santos 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.

Transfer targets

Gui Negão will not be coming to Nacional

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Corinthians is saying, and nobody at Nacional is enjoying the guessing.

Market

Nacional say no — this time

The offer from Leiria for Jota 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

Nacional rebuffed over Ivo Grbić

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

Match

A bad afternoon for Nacional against Gil Vicente

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

The dugout

Carlos Paternina 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.

In brief