The Zalgiris Courier
Market15 Feb 2027
Marko Capan agrees terms with Utenis
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Zalgiris people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Zalgiris training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Grigore Turda 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Nedas Klimavičius signs a new deal
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nedas Klimavičius commits to Zalgiris for another 4 years.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Omar Sowunmi 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 dugout15 Feb 2027
Deividas Šešplaukis has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Zalgiris 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Bryan Teixeira remains an outsider
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Zalgiris would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Squad15 Feb 2027
An aura around Ali Youssef
Where he used to play does most of his talking for him at Zalgiris. The room defers to it, the kids study it, and the only thing that can puncture it is a bad month.
Market15 Feb 2027
Still no ink between Zalgiris and Dan Martin
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Zalgiris, another week without a signature from Dan Martin.
Market15 Feb 2027
Window shut, Ovidijus Verbickas still here
Zalgiris spent the window trying to move Ovidijus Verbickas on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
In brief
- The dugout Dan Martin knocks on the manager’s door
- Market Zalgiris put Dariuš Stankevičius up for sale