Marked for Ethan Cox
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad16 Nov 2026
A fracture rules Mathew Leckie out for 85 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Melbourne City will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad16 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Melbourne City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nathaniel Atkinson, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Sep 2026
“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.
Market14 Sep 2026
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Adelaide United moved on, Benjamin Mazzeo reports back to Melbourne City, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Market14 Sep 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Melbourne City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Peter Antoniou is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Melbourne City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ben Warland 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Ethan Cox and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Adelaide United can pretend not to have heard.
Market31 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Kashima Antlers is saying, and nobody at Adelaide United is enjoying the guessing.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Melbourne City have kept their man, and Adelaide United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market31 Aug 2026
Business is business: Ethan Cox goes
Melbourne City paid $100.0K and Adelaide United took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
Patrick Beach 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 Melbourne City can pretend not to have heard.
Market31 Aug 2026
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Wellington Phoenix waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Melbourne City is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $113.8K — a club that wants Ethan Cox enough to be asked twice.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Melbourne City have gone to Wellington Phoenix 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
The fee is $100.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Adelaide United drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Perth Glory wanted more than $27.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Ben Warland 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mathew Baker was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Adelaide United did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Adelaide United asked and Viking said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market24 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Adelaide United have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Adelaide United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Panagiotis Kikianis 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Joel Anasmo 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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Kashima Antlers 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Aug 2026
“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 Melbourne City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $34.1K — a club that wants Diesel Herrington enough to be asked twice.
Market24 Aug 2026
Sydney FC paid $720.0K and Melbourne City took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
$89.0K on the table at Adelaide United. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad24 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Melbourne City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Melbourne City have gone to Adelaide United 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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Melbourne City offered $32.0K; Central Coast Mariners 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
Newcastle Jets pay $99.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Market24 Aug 2026
The name of Alessandro Lopane has come up in conversations Melbourne City were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Adelaide United did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Joshua Smits and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
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 targets17 Aug 2026
A loan move for Benjamin Mazzeo is in the works
Adelaide United have made the call to Melbourne City. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.