Nicolás Muñoz

Striker - Casarano
27 Dec 2029
Thursday
Process

Marked for Nicolás Muñoz

162 Edition

The Casarano Courier

3 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Lucas Ricciotti asks to leave Casarano

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Boardroom

Window shuts: 29 in, 26 out at Casarano

The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 29 arrived, 26 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.

Squad

Henri Moreau gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Henri Moreau has just signed for Casarano, and for once the answer mattered.

Squad

A falling-out at Casarano

Marco Ferilli and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Boardroom

Still nobody in the Casarano dugout

14 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.

Squad

Vito Leonetti 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 targets

Deadline beats Casarano to Giovanni Cultraro

The clock did what Sambenedettese would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.

Transfer targets

Arzignano tell Casarano: Joep Munsters is not for sale

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.

Market

Nicolás Muñoz attracts admirers

The name of Nicolás Muñoz has come up in conversations Casarano were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

In brief

Back issues
159 Edition

The Casarano Courier

13 Aug 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A falling-out at Casarano

Flavio Di Dio and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Casarano training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pietro Ciotti 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.

Transfer targets

Casarano rebuffed over Agustín Zabaleta

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cesena have kept their man, and Casarano go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

The dugout

No hiding place for Giacomo Cavallini

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Giacomo Cavallini, and the manager let it.

Squad

Aziz Okaka wants to go home

“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Casarano can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.

Transfer targets

Casarano try to borrow Dario Salvatore

AC Milan have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.

Market

Marco Ferilli linked with a move away

The name of Marco Ferilli keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Casarano say nothing, which says plenty.

The dugout

Nicolás Muñoz has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Casarano 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.

The dugout

A door opens for Vito Leonetti

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.

In brief

154 Edition

The Casarano Courier

9 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Antonio De Luca out for 25 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Casarano will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Mihail Tsenov 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 Casarano, and it is not being withdrawn.

Boardroom

Nikita Panov has agreed to leave Casarano for nothing

He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.

Squad

The step up is real for Konstantin Tron

At 22 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.

Squad

Vito Leonetti stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Vito Leonetti and Casarano agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Transfer targets

No deal for Daniel Fratti at that price

Casarano offered $43.0K; Vis Pesaro 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.

Squad

Pietro Ciotti 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 targets

Dolomiti Bellunesi tell Casarano: Jason Kodor is not for sale

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.

The dugout

Jeremías Gutiérrez 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.

In brief

128 Edition

The Casarano Courier

8 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Francesco Grandolfo agrees terms with Crotone

The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Casarano people have started saying his name in the past tense.

Match

Casarano sink to position 17

16 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Market

Karlo Lulić 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 Casarano, and it is not being withdrawn.

Transfer targets

Pietro Faccioli due for a Casarano medical

Everything agreed with AC Milan, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.

Boardroom

John-Paul Cavanagh has agreed to leave Casarano for nothing

He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.

Squad

Vito Leonetti 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.

Squad

A falling-out at Casarano

Stefano Negro and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Andrea Chiappini in trouble away from the ground

Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.

Squad

Nicolás Muñoz signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nicolás Muñoz and Casarano agree another 4 years.

In brief

112 Edition

The Casarano Courier

18 Sep 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Karlo Lulić hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Casarano can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Cosimo Patierno out for 22 days

The medical room confirms 22 days on the sidelines for Cosimo Patierno, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

The dugout

No hiding place for Raffaele Maiello

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Raffaele Maiello, and the manager let it.

Match

Honours even between Casarano and Picerno

1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Flavio Di Dio

Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

Vincenzo Costantini: “We have to be better”

“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.

Looking ahead

Flavio Di Dio goes back to face Audace Cerignola

Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Flavio Di Dio’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Casarano needing him to play as if none of it matters.

Market

Federico Giraudo linked with a move away

The name of Federico Giraudo keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Casarano say nothing, which says plenty.

The dugout

No place in the plan for Niccolò Zanellato

The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.

In brief

107 Edition

The Casarano Courier

14 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Stefano Altieri damages knee ligaments — 33 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 33 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.

Market

Casarano turn down Ludogorets for Borna Knezović

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Francesco Grandolfo has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Casarano they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

The terraces

A $500.0K sale, and a town that did not want it

Niccolò Chiorra has gone, the accounts have $500.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.

Market

Bright Gyamfi hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Casarano can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

The step up is real for Nicolás Muñoz

At 22 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Casarano

Flavio Di Dio 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.

Market

Business is business: Niccolò Chiorra goes

Torino paid $500.0K and Casarano took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.

Squad

Karlo Lulić has improved at 32, 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.

In brief

105 Edition

The Casarano Courier

31 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Niccolò Chiorra asks to leave Casarano

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Joseph Ngadena is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.

Squad

Federico Giraudo has improved at 29, 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Casarano

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tommaso Cassandro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Tempers go at Casarano

Andrea Santarcangelo 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 dugout

Francesco Grandolfo 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 dugout

Vincenzo Millico knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Vincenzo Millico trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

The Borna Knezović story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Borna Knezović signs something — a contract at Casarano or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

The dugout

Nicolás Muñoz has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Casarano 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.

In brief

103 Edition

The Casarano Courier

17 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Borna Knezović turns Pescara down

“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.

Squad

A fracture rules Sebastiano De Carli out for 20 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Casarano will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Vincenzo Millico 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 Casarano, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Francesco Grandolfo is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Casarano is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

The dugout

Ismael Cajazzo says Casarano went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Market

Khazar come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Casarano did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Niccolò Chiorra 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 Casarano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Nicolás Muñoz is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.

Squad

Late improvement for Tommaso Cassandro

At 28 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.

In brief

101 Edition

The Casarano Courier

3 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Sebastiano De Carli out for 36 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Casarano will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Francesco Grandolfo has said yes to Torres

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Casarano have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Market

Niccolò Chiorra hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Casarano can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Bechem United come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Casarano did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

The dugout

Raffaele Maiello: 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.” Casarano have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Tommaso Cassandro 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 dugout

No hiding place for Francesco Grandolfo

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Francesco Grandolfo, and the manager let it.

Squad

Tempers go at Casarano

Leandro Versienti 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.

Market

A long bet from Casarano on Cobi Maddox

He is 20, and nobody at Casarano signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.

In brief

97 Edition

The Casarano Courier

5 Jun 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Niccolò Chiorra hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Casarano can pretend not to have heard.

Boardroom

Casarano to lose Giovanni Mirto for free

There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Giovanni Mirto has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Andrea Santarcangelo

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at Casarano

Bright Gyamfi 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.

Squad

The armband comes off Niccolò Chiorra

Casarano will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.

The dugout

Vito Leonetti knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Vito Leonetti trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Squad

A row about effort at Casarano

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mihail Tsenov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Market

The shop window has Francesco Grandolfo in it

Casarano have let the market know Francesco Grandolfo can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.

Market

The Niccolò Chiorra question follows Casarano around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Niccolò Chiorra’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief