The Nacional Post
Market23 Jul 2029
Julián Fabregas has said yes to IMT
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Nacional have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market23 Jul 2029
Filipe Soares puts it in writing
“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 The request is on a desk at Nacional, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets23 Jul 2029
Alexandre Guedes due for a Nacional medical
Everything agreed with Pacos de Ferreira, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Market23 Jul 2029
Liziero has his eye on Europe
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Nacional can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Gabriel Lopes is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Words exchanged at Nacional
Gabriel Veron 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.
Squad23 Jul 2029
A late step up for David Costa
At 25 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 4 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Squad23 Jul 2029
Chiheb Labidi 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 Jul 2029
Matheus Dias 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 Nacional, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
- Market Marquinhos Cipriano placed on the list
- The dugout Filipe Soares gets picked when it counts
- Match Nacional have something to play for