Marked for Héctor Fort
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
The offer went to Burgos this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Market7 Jun 2027
Terms done: Jon Martín is going
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Castellón waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Real Sociedad is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Granada have kept their man, and Real Sociedad go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
Everything agreed with Andorra, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
The offer went to Leganés this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Market7 Jun 2027
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Florian Wirtz 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.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $18.0M — a club that wants Jon Karrikaburu enough to be asked twice.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Ander Barrenetxea 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom31 May 2027
Continental nights are coming to Real Sociedad
Qualification is secured, and next season the big floodlit nights are continental ones. For the players it is a stage; for the accounts it is a lifeline; for the supporters it is passports.
Squad31 May 2027
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Real Sociedad have had the benefit of it.
Squad31 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Real Sociedad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Real Sociedad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mamadou Sarr 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 dugout31 May 2027
Álex Remiro has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Real Sociedad 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.
Market31 May 2027
The Sergio Gómez story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Sergio Gómez signs something — a contract at Real Sociedad or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout31 May 2027
Nicolás Brun 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Ban served, and Héctor Fort returns to the reckoning
Missing football is its own punishment and it has now been paid in full. Real Sociedad get a player back, and whoever has been deputising gets the conversation nobody enjoys.
The dugout31 May 2027
Jon Aramburu keeps his manager's vote
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Jon Aramburu plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 May 2027
108 days out for Alexander Hack after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Zurich will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad17 May 2027
Tempers go at Zurich
Milton Maciel 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 dugout17 May 2027
Héctor Fort has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Zurich 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.
Market17 May 2027
Silas Huber linked with a move away
The name of Silas Huber keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Zurich say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout17 May 2027
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.
Squad17 May 2027
A few words of the language, a friend at the next peg, and a training ground that has stopped feeling foreign. Nothing measurable, and everything visible on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad3 May 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Florian Wirtz
40 goals and a season average of 7.68 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Match1 May 2027
Celta will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Real Sociedad were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad3 May 2027
391 appearances across 11 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Real Sociedad know what they have.
Squad3 May 2027
Florian Wirtz 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 terraces3 May 2027
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Squad3 May 2027
Ander Barrenetxea 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.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Marked 8.55 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Marked 8.01 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Marked 8.03 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 May 2027
Alexander Hack breaks a bone — 124 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 124 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad3 May 2027
A falling-out at Zurich
Cédric Brunner and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Zurich training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Miguel Reichmuth 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 dugout3 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ivan Cavaleiro, and the manager let it.
The dugout3 May 2027
Silas Huber gets picked when it counts
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 Silas Huber is on it.
Squad3 May 2027
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Zurich
Grischa Prömel 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Cédric Brunner 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 dugout19 Apr 2027
“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.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Héctor Fort gets picked when it counts
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 Héctor Fort is on it.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Cédric Brunner 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.
Market19 Apr 2027
The Silas Huber story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Silas Huber signs something — a contract at Zurich or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Apr 2027
35 goals and a season average of 7.62. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Pablo Marín: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Real Sociedad have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad5 Apr 2027
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.
Market5 Apr 2027
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Real Sociedad can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ander Barrenetxea was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
A performance of 8.39 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to César Gelabert, and the manager let it.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Arkaitz Mariezkurrena and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Zurich training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cédric Brunner 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Zurich
Jaime Carreño and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
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 Lindrit Kamberi is on it.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lukas Scherff, and the manager let it.
Market29 Mar 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Zurich know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Mar 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Livano Comenencia and Zurich agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Ilan Sauter 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 Zurich this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Zurich
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cédric Brunner was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Miguel Reichmuth, and the manager let it.
Market22 Mar 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Umeh Emmanuel has his answer from Zurich; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Héctor Fort gets picked when it counts
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 Héctor Fort is on it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match6 Mar 2027
0‑3 against Barcelona, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A one-man rearguard from Álex Remiro
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad8 Mar 2027
220 appearances across 10 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Real Sociedad know what they have.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Real Sociedad are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Arkaitz Mariezkurrena and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
Nobody left the Real Sociedad dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Loan watch8 Mar 2027
“I watch every Real Sociedad game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Zurich runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
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 0‑3 Jesús Alonso left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
Florian Wirtz has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Real Sociedad 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match17 Feb 2027
The cup run ends for Zurich
0‑0 against Basel, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Silas Huber is the hero from the spot
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Silas Huber: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Sekou Diawara: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Zurich have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match17 Feb 2027
7 unbeaten for Zurich
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Zurich did not have in the autumn.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Zurich
Lindrit Kamberi 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.
Market22 Feb 2027
The name of Umeh Emmanuel has come up in conversations Zurich were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Match17 Feb 2027
Zurich make home a hard place to visit
9 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
The terraces22 Feb 2027
Zurich supporters have found a favourite in Silas Huber
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Silas Huber 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Ilan Sauter 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
Steady
Market25 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Zurich can pretend not to have heard.
Market25 Jan 2027
The bid was some way short and Zurich did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Zurich
Valon Berisha 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.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Austria Wien have kept their man, and Zurich go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Zurich training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cédric Brunner 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 dugout25 Jan 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market25 Jan 2027
The name of Philippe Keny keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Zurich say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
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.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Umeh Emmanuel 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 Zurich, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Dec 2026
Grischa Prömel wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Zurich hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Zurich
Valon Berisha 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Ilan Sauter 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 dugout7 Dec 2026
Silas Huber has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Zurich 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Market7 Dec 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Zurich know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
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.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Umeh Emmanuel 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.
Match7 Dec 2026
Continental football is in reach for Zurich
19 points from position 6. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
7.81, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Zurich
Grischa Prömel 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
1‑2 to Young Boys, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Zurich
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Cédric Brunner was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Nicholas Ammeter has improved at 25, which nobody expected
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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Davide Munari and Zurich agree another 4 years.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
A promise honoured at Zurich
Something was said to Héctor Fort and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout12 Oct 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
Market3 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.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
7.98, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Juan-José Perea commits to Zurich for another 3 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Zurich this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets3 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
Level with 93 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Zurich had all but put away. Thun will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
Market3 Aug 2026
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Mohamed Bangoura 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.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Real Sociedad: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.