102 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Ra'ed lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Ra'ed have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have shaken hands with Hajer; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Ra'ed can pretend not to have heard.
Zinho Gano 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Ra'ed have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Zinho Gano 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Oumar Gonzalez, and the manager let it.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Rakan Kaabi 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.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Al-Ra'ed will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Ra'ed can pretend not to have heard.
Zinho Gano 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oumar Gonzalez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Wehda have kept their man, and Al-Ra'ed go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Ra'ed know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Al-Ra'ed would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Ra'ed 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 Al-Ra'ed this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Al-Ra'ed training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oumar Gonzalez 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.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Ra'ed can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Al-Saudi Al-Watani for Karim Ashraf 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.
The deal with Al-Ittihad is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Zinho Gano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Al-Ra'ed training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oumar Gonzalez 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Fayha have kept their man, and Al-Ra'ed go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The phone has started ringing about Saleh Al-Ohaymid again, and this time the name on the line is Al-Mojzel. Al-Ra'ed are listening politely and promising nothing.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Al-Ra'ed have lost him in all but the paperwork.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Al-Ra'ed can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Zinho Gano 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.
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 phone has started ringing about Karim Ashraf again, and this time the name on the line is Al-Saudi Al-Watani. Al-Ra'ed are listening politely and promising nothing.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Al-Ra'ed will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Karim Ashraf will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Ra'ed the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Zinho Gano 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 easiest signature of my career.” Mohammed Al-Khaibari and Al-Ra'ed agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Musleh Al-Shaikh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Ra'ed know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Ra'ed this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oumar Gonzalez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mateo Morro trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Karim Ashraf will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Ra'ed the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Zinho Gano 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Al-Ra'ed training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oumar Gonzalez 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.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Ra'ed know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“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 Al-Ra'ed, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Ra'ed this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oumar Gonzalez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Moussa Koné signs something — a contract at Al-Ra'ed or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luciano Zúñiga will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Ra'ed the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Zinho Gano 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 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.
11 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
The mood at Al-Ra'ed has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Ra'ed have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Al-Ra'ed, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Nawaf Hazazi is on it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Al-Ra'ed they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Zinho Gano 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Al-Ra'ed training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oumar Gonzalez 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Ra'ed know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nobody at Al-Ra'ed 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.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Ra'ed can pretend not to have heard.
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 squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Yusuf Akçiçek is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
The words a physio says slowly. 14 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Al-Ettifaq waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Al-Ra'ed is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Al-Ra'ed can tell you which week it ends in.
The deal with Independiente is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Ra'ed this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Atlético Mineiro have kept their man, and Al-Ra'ed go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The phone has started ringing about Luciano Zúñiga again, and this time the name on the line is Al-Riyadh. Al-Ra'ed are listening politely and promising nothing.
The words a physio says slowly. 38 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.
“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 Al-Ra'ed, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Al-Ra'ed have done the hard part with Al-Hilal, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The phone has started ringing about Luciano Zúñiga again, and this time the name on the line is Al-Mojzel. Al-Ra'ed are listening politely and promising nothing.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.22 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Al-Ra'ed they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Haman Mandjan 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Yasser Al-Dawsari 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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.49 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Ra'ed have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Al-Ra'ed will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Zinho Gano 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.
“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 dugout23 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Salem Al-Rashid, on a 3‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Al-Ra'ed they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Zinho Gano 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.
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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Omar Shami, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Salem Al-Rashid to a room that had heard them before.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Oumar Gonzalez
1‑5 to Al-Hilal, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al-Ra'ed is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Haman Mandjan 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Mohammed Al-Khaibari is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
6 goals in one match, Moussa Koné on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Al-Ra'ed and Al-Hilal.
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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Omar Shami
BoardroomNobody left the Al-Ra'ed dressing room in a hurry