Marked for Daniel Theiner
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 35 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Market1 Feb 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at Union Brescia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Union Brescia may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match30 Jan 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation Union Brescia did not have in the autumn.
Market1 Feb 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Union Brescia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Defensive actions: 24. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Luigi Silvestri 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A season average of 7.45 with 8 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
A performance of 9.30 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Aug 2026
Südtirol say no — this time
The offer from Carpi for Gabriele Platto 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Salvatore Molina 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 22 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Market31 Aug 2026
Union Brescia paid $400.0K and Südtirol took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Market31 Aug 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Domen Črnigoj has his answer from Südtirol; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A defender's afternoon for Fabian Tait
Defensive actions: 15. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Shots: 9, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
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 Union Brescia can pretend not to have heard.
Market31 Aug 2026
The chase for Daniel Theiner ended with $400.0K changing hands and Südtirol out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A defender's afternoon for Nicola Pasini
Defensive actions: 22. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Valerio Crespi 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 20 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match29 Aug 2026
A 1‑0 win over Lumezzane, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.21 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alberto De Francesco, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Aug 2026
Südtirol say no — this time
The offer from Lecce for Salvatore Molina 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.
Market24 Aug 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
17 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
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 Südtirol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market24 Aug 2026
He is 16, and nobody at Südtirol signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Market24 Aug 2026
Enrico Verdi is 16, and Südtirol have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
Salvatore Molina 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The medical room confirms 46 days on the sidelines for Lukas Kostner, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
Salvatore Molina 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Raphael Kofler commits to Südtirol for another 4 years.
Market10 Aug 2026
The name of Gabriele Platto has come up in conversations Südtirol were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Raphael Kofler, and the manager let it.
Market10 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Market10 Aug 2026
The clock runs on Simone Davi's contract
48 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.