Marked for Samuel Marques
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
No thanks: Filip Kostić rejects the move
Grasshopper had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Juventus, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Market11 Jan 2027
Young Boys pay $1.3M, 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Kevin Mbabu 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.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Grasshopper asked and Brondby said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market11 Jan 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Djibril Rieder 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Steven Rieder 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.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Leonardo Marson
“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.
Loan watch11 Jan 2027
“I did not go to Charlton Athletic to sit and watch. I want to come back to Grasshopper and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 19 matches say the rest.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to Plaza Colonia: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match11 Jan 2027
10 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Young Boys asked and Leicester City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market11 Jan 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Slovan Liberec had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Young Boys have gone to Red Bull Salzburg 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Young Boys offered $2.5M; Zurich 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
The chase for Samuel Marques ended with $1.3M changing hands and Grasshopper out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Yacine Adli 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
The medical room confirms 31 days on the sidelines for Kaly Sène, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Jan 2027
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Grasshopper will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Market4 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Justin Hammel and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market4 Jan 2027
The name of Samuel Marques has come up in conversations Grasshopper were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Grasshopper training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Mbabu 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 dugout4 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Tim Meyer
“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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Grasshopper will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to Juventus: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to Brondby: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market4 Jan 2027
Loris Benito 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 Young Boys can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
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 targets4 Jan 2027
An offer of $2.5M for Fodé Sylla
Young Boys have gone to Sion 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 targets4 Jan 2027
Young Boys have gone to Zurich 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 targets4 Jan 2027
$1.3M on the table at Grasshopper. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Market4 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Alvyn Sanches 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Young Boys have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Young Boys training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Armin Gigović 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
Kevin Mbabu 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Allan Arigoni 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.
Loan watch21 Dec 2026
“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 Grasshopper, and 5 appearances in 15 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Benji Siegrist knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Grasshopper, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Samuel Marques has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Grasshopper 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.
Market21 Dec 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Kevin Mbabu’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Grasshopper may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Kevin Mbabu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Grasshopper training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Marques 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 dugout30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Darko Jevtić, and the manager let it.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Grasshopper will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Nikolas Muci 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match18 Nov 2026
Zurich ended it 0‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Match18 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Grasshopper's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Grasshopper has to find a result from somewhere.
Match18 Nov 2026
7 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Justin Hammel 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Kevin Mbabu 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
No hiding place for Tim Meyer
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tim Meyer, and the manager let it.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
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 0‑1 Fabian Schär left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
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 Samuel Marques is on it.
Market23 Nov 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Kevin Mbabu’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match7 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Grasshopper's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Grasshopper has to find a result from somewhere.
Match7 Nov 2026
5 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Kevin Mbabu 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 Grasshopper this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match7 Nov 2026
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Grasshopper did not have in the autumn.
Market9 Nov 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Granit Kobel 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.
Market9 Nov 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ricardo Gavranovic 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Looking ahead9 Nov 2026
Top-of-the-table clash for Grasshopper
Sion next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Oct 2026
Grasshopper are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 20 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Kevin Mbabu 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.
Looking ahead19 Oct 2026
The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Nikolas Muci 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Samuel Marques was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Grasshopper told Julian von Moos something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Tjorben Uphoff and Grasshopper agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Half-satisfied: Fabian Schär on the draw
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
After 8 games, Grasshopper finally taste it again
The first defeat in 8 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Vaduz; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Kevin Mbabu 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
3 matches without a goal for Grasshopper
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Match26 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Match28 Sep 2026
Half the programme played, position 3, 15 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Grasshopper training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Samuel Marques 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
No hiding place for Tim Meyer
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tim Meyer, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 36. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match29 Aug 2026
3‑0, and Michaël Frey took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Grasshopper tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The match ball belongs to Michaël Frey, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Justin Hammel 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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Basel wanted more than $380.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Federico Mastropietro has, at Grasshopper, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Ninety minutes of Michaël Frey at his very best
Marked 9.76. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Grasshopper.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Grasshopper training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kevin Mbabu 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 ratings31 Aug 2026
Ninety minutes of Kevin Mbabu at his very best
Marked 8.05. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Grasshopper.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Aug 2026
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Justin Hammel: 5 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 35. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match19 Aug 2026
Vaduz are out and Grasshopper go through, 1‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
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 Grasshopper, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market24 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 targets24 Aug 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Sporting CP is saying, and nobody at Grasshopper is enjoying the guessing.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
$640.0K was the most the club would pay and Lugano were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Kevin Mbabu 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Clément Michelin 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market17 Aug 2026
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” OB had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
$5.0M was the most the club would pay and Bayern Munich were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Grasshopper have gone to Lugano 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 targets17 Aug 2026
No thanks: Kyrylo Fesiun rejects the move
Grasshopper had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Shakhtar, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Kevin Mbabu 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 Grasshopper this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michaël Frey was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
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.