The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Serge Daura did not need any: 8.01, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Sony Farell Evina is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 16 actions, 6.96, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Fortuna Mfou this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Serge Daura has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Suleiman Mojereola was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Paschal Durugbor 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.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Fortuna Mfou training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aminou Bouba 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.
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.
Fortuna Mfou ran out of time with Aigle Royal de la Menoua. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Zaharaddeen Bello has his answer from Fortuna Mfou; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Fortuna Mfou will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Fortuna Mfou people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Léon Dilane Balomog was one of the reasons people came, and $120.0K does not replace that by itself.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Morel Ondobo Abena will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Fortuna Mfou the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Paschal Durugbor 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. Canon Yaounde have kept their man, and Fortuna Mfou go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Fortuna Mfou will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Fortuna Mfou this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 May 2027
Aminou Bouba 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.
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 Serge Eloundou is on it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Fortuna Mfou will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Serge Daura did not need any: 10.00, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“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 Fortuna Mfou, and it is not being withdrawn.
Nurudeen Araromi 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.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Fortuna Mfou and Aigle Royal de Moungo in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
“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 Fortuna Mfou, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Serge Daura, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.85
A mark of 7.85 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Fortuna Mfou have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 1 signed and 1 gone
That is the business done at Fortuna Mfou until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Franck Bekono will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Fortuna Mfou the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Paschal Durugbor 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Fortuna Mfou and Cotonsport Garoua in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Nurudeen Araromi 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.
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Fortuna Mfou training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carlitos Djapa 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A Fortuna Mfou teenager takes the young player award
Serge Daura is 20, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Fortuna Mfou this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aminou Bouba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 21 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.
Cotonsport Garoua 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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.
Level with 86 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Fortuna Mfou had all but put away. Aigle Royal de la Menoua will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Fortuna Mfou training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carlitos Djapa 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.
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 5 on the scoresheet, 9.94 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
The words a physio says slowly. 17 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Fortuna Mfou will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Serge Daura. 5‑3 against PWD Bamenda, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Fortuna Mfou and PWD Bamenda in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
He is 20 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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Ambroise Ntcham kept it short after the 5‑3 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
39 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Fortuna Mfou lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Fortuna Mfou, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Fortuna Mfou have done the hard part with Aigle Royal de Moungo, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Fortuna Mfou this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fortuna Mfou have gone to Dynamo Douala 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.
Fortuna Mfou offered $29.0K; Dynamo Douala 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.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
Fortuna Mfou spend $180.0K on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $180.0K for Kadad Ning Che, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Kadad Ning Che was one of the reasons people came, and $180.0K does not replace that by itself.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what PWD Bamenda can pretend not to have heard.
PWD Bamenda asked and Cotonsport Garoua said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and PWD Bamenda know which stage they are at.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at PWD Bamenda training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alain Sifor 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” David Fernande has his answer from PWD Bamenda; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
46 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Fortuna Mfou lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Fortuna Mfou, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everything agreed with PWD Bamenda, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
$26.0K on the table at Dynamo Douala. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
In brief
SquadAminou Bouba falls out with a teammate over standards
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. PWD Bamenda have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what PWD Bamenda can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at PWD Bamenda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
PWD Bamenda asked and Colombe du Dja et Lobo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
PWD Bamenda have made the call to Rivers United. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
In brief
SquadAbdoullahi Sabo falls out with a teammate over standards
53 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Fortuna Mfou lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
$170.0K on the table at PWD Bamenda. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Paschal Durugbor 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.
Fortuna Mfou asked and Golden Arrows said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The name of Carlitos Djapa has come up in conversations Fortuna Mfou were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Fortuna Mfou know which stage they are at.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
A loan enquiry to Gazelle Garoua: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Raphael Ayagwa 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.
The name of Kadad Ning Che has come up in conversations PWD Bamenda were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. PWD Bamenda know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
PWD Bamenda have made the call to Radnicki 1923. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
A loan enquiry to Gazelle Garoua: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
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.