Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Jakub Duris will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Trencin the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Igor Dmitriev 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.
“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.
Squad17 May 2027
Markus Poom 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Armando Dobra signs something — a contract at AS Trencin or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
31 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
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.
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
Yan Gudkov 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.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marquinhos signs something — a contract at Spartak Moscow or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Danil Prutsev has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
Squad17 May 2027
Srđan Babić is training like a man with a point to make
Nobody has promised him anything and he has not asked. The coaching staff have noticed, which at this stage of a season is the only thing that matters.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mikkel Boye will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Trencin 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 AS Trencin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 May 2027
Igor Dmitriev 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Tadeáš Hájovský trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at AS Trencin will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at AS Trencin has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
16 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AS Trencin lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Roy van der Leegte will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Trencin 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 AS Trencin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at AS Trencin training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Markus Poom 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 watch every AS Trencin game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Spartak Trnava 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 Richard Križan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 24 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Trencin is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Igor Dmitriev 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Markus Poom 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Richie Musaba trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
31 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AS Trencin lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Trencin they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Pepijn Doesburg 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 Igor Dmitriev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Position 5 on 31 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AS Trencin, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Spartak Moscow can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Spartak Moscow have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Pablo Solari wants continental football; whether Spartak Moscow can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak Moscow this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I watch every Spartak Moscow game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at AS Trencin runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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 words a physio says slowly. 39 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mikkel Boye will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Trencin 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 AS Trencin 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 Markus Poom was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I watch every AS Trencin game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at MFK Ruzomberok runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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 Markus Poom is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Tadeáš Hájovský signs something — a contract at AS Trencin or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
In brief
The dugoutMatúš Sláviček asks for a word with the manager
47 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AS Trencin lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Trencin they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 33 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for AS Trencin is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Markus Poom 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 AS Trencin, and 0 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
The words a physio says slowly. 55 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 17 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Trencin they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Pepijn Doesburg 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Trencin will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Trencin is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Igor Dmitriev 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.
At 37, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Markus Poom 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.
4 call-ups is a compliment to the squad and a headache for the man running it. He will get them back in a fortnight, tired, in various states of repair.
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 Christopher Martins Pereira is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Spartak Moscow, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. AS Trencin will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Trencin they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Trencin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 AS Trencin know it.
“I watch every AS Trencin game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at MFK Ruzomberok runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Nobody at AS Trencin will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AS Trencin, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 40 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Roy van der Leegte will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Trencin 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 AS Trencin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Pablo González and AS Trencin agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Igor Dmitriev 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.
“I watch every AS Trencin game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Spartak Trnava runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 48 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Franko Sabljić will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Trencin the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at AS Trencin can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Igor Dmitriev 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 Markus Poom was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I watch every AS Trencin game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at MFK Ruzomberok runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 56 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The offer from Arsenal Dzerzhinsk for Lukáš Mikulaj 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Trencin is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Pepijn Doesburg 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 Markus Poom was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and AS Trencin know which stage they are at.
31 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AS Trencin will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” AS Trencin have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Trencin they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Armando Dobra 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Orenburg have kept their man, and AS Trencin go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Igor Dmitriev 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 not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation AS Trencin are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Nobody at AS Trencin will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason AS Trencin will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at AS Trencin is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. AS Trencin have done the hard part with Spartak Moscow, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Trencin 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. Podbrezova have kept their man, and AS Trencin go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Markus Poom 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 trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at AS Trencin has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Spartak Kostroma waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Spartak Moscow is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Spartak Moscow can pretend not to have heard.
Add another name to the list: Rostov have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Marquinhos. The answer from Spartak Moscow has not changed — yet.
Everything agreed with Crvena Zvezda, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Pablo Solari 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 79 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around AS Trencin people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Franko Sabljić will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Trencin the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 1 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
Pepijn Doesburg 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Viktoria Plzen have kept their man, and AS Trencin go back to a list with one name crossed off 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 Spartak Moscow, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Bunyodkor waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Spartak Moscow is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Two goals and a mark of 9.30 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The name of Igor Dmitriev has come up in conversations Spartak Moscow were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
A season average of 7.25 with 15 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Spartak Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pablo Solari 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.
Add another name to the list: Inter have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Esequiel Barco. The answer from Spartak Moscow has not changed — yet.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Ilja Pomazun has agreed terms with Krasnodar for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Spartak Moscow is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Spartak Moscow 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 Igor Dmitriev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Spartak Moscow, and it is not being withdrawn.
Two goals and a mark of 9.19 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Bunyodkor had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pablo Solari was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.04 — 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.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Srđan Babić had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Position 2, 40 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mirlind Daku and Spartak Moscow agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.
7 goals in one match, Artem Bykovskiy on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Spartak Moscow and Textilschik.
The phone has started ringing about Igor Dmitriev again, and this time the name on the line is Bunyodkor. Spartak Moscow are listening politely and promising nothing.
In brief
SquadPablo Solari falls out with a teammate over standards
98 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Spartak Moscow 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 Spartak Moscow can pretend not to have heard.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Kairat had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Zvezda waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Spartak Moscow is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 2 arrived, 5 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Spartak Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pablo Solari 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 Spartak Moscow, and it is not being withdrawn.
“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 Spartak Moscow hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mirlind Daku and Spartak Moscow agree another 5 years.
Add another name to the list: Shakhter have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Vladislav Saus. The answer from Spartak Moscow has not changed — yet.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Spartak Moscow training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pablo Solari 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Victor Parada is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Spartak Moscow have made the call to Al Wasl. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Christopher Wooh was one of the reasons people came, and $7.8M does not replace that by itself.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Palmeiras keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Spartak Moscow asked and Feyenoord said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
7 call-ups is a compliment to the squad and a headache for the man running it. He will get them back in a fortnight, tired, in various states of repair.