The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Rivers United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Ali Abdullahi 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Peter Kareem has his answer from Rivers United; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Promise Awosanmi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Rivers United have no good answer.
Katsina United interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Chidera Ndidi keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
52 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Katsina United 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 The request is on a desk at Katsina United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everything agreed with Rivers United, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Ayomide Cole 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Kano Pillars have kept their man, and Katsina United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Words at Katsina United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ifeanyi Ihemekwele 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Katsina United have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Day 14 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ayomide Cole was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Katsina United asked and Rivers United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Katsina United has been clear about where Sani Faisal stands, which is more than many ever get.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Onochie Chukwu has just signed for Katsina United, and for once the answer mattered.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Katsina United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Words at Katsina United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ifeanyi Ihemekwele 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 not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Katsina United are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kabir Muhammed Kabir trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Abba Khalid signs something — a contract at Katsina United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Onochie Chukwu arrives at Katsina United with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Katsina United can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Katsina United can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Muhammad Suleiman will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Katsina United the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Joshua Enaholo and Katsina United agree another 2 years.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Ayomide Cole 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 Joshua Enaholo is on it.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Ayomide Cole is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
Abba Khalid 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.
Squad27 Nov 2028
Words at Katsina United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ayomide Cole 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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Katsina United 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 Katsina United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Words at Katsina United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yusuf Omotayo 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 a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Katsina United know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Abba Khalid signs something — a contract at Katsina United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Michael Okoro keeps the shirt for now, at Katsina United's convenience rather than his own.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Katsina United. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Joshua Akpan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Ayomide Cole 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Katsina United, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Katsina United. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
BoardroomThe Katsina United production line keeps running
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Katsina United can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Katsina United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Ayomide Cole 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.
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 Joshua Enaholo is on it.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Katsina United than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Ayomide Cole has just signed for Katsina United, and for once the answer mattered.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Katsina United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Ayomide Cole 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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Katsina United are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Katsina United has been clear about where Nasir Ahmed stands, which is more than many ever get.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Abba Khalid signs something — a contract at Katsina United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Katsina United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Timothy Atamenwan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Katsina United has been clear about where Suleiman Yusuf stands, which is more than many ever get.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Plateau United in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Abba Khalid signs something — a contract at Katsina United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Successful dribbles: 10. 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Kwara United waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Katsina United is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Squad28 Aug 2028
A muscle injury sidelines Joshua Akpan for 14 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Katsina United will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Akintunde Azeez 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 goal that put Abia Warriors ahead was still being replayed on the concourse when Katsina United equalised, 4 minutes later. Leads are only worth what you do with them.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words at Katsina United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yusuf Omotayo 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 found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Katsina United pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Katsina United and Nasarawa United have settled on $770.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.82 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Everything agreed with Rangers International, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
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.
Katsina United have made the call to Ikorodu City. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout31 Jul 2028
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.” Ifeanyi Ogu, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
10 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“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 Katsina United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Position 18 and 24 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Ifeanyi Ihemekwele 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Remo Stars have kept their man, and Katsina United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Both clubs in the mire, one fixture between them, and a ground that will be louder and more frightened than at any point in the season. Katsina United know what is at stake and so does everybody in the away end.
“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 Katsina United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings5 Jun 2028
A brace, and Samson Obi takes the afternoon — 8.51
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Samson Obi provided it, and the 8.51 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Everything agreed with Ikorodu City, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Ifeanyi Ihemekwele 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.
Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words at Katsina United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joshua Akpan 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.
Joshua Akpan 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.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Ifeanyi Ogu could afford to be generous.
Niger Tornadoes next, and one man in the Katsina United dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Words at Katsina United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joshua Akpan 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.
Suleiman Yusuf 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.
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.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Abia Warriors next, and one man in the Katsina United dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ifeanyi Ihemekwele and Katsina United agree another 4 years.
Akintunde Azeez 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 Apr 2028
Words at Katsina United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joshua Akpan 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.
Minute 91, against Remo Stars, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Katsina United, another week without a signature from Abba Khalid.
It needed Oriyomi Lebi to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Remo Stars, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout3 Apr 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Ifeanyi Ogu was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Katsina United dressing room was either.
50 for the club now, each one filed in somebody’s memory with a date and a scoreline. Numbers like this are what supporters argue about in twenty years.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 85. Enyimba had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
“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.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Words at Katsina United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Timothy Atamenwan 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.
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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Ifeanyi Ogu after the 2‑2 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The offer went to Nasarawa United 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.
Katsina United had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Kano Pillars, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Remo Stars have kept their man, and Katsina United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Bendel Insurance 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.
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 Joshua Enaholo is on it.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Ifeanyi Ogu after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Katsina United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Emmanuel Nwabufo and Katsina United agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Joshua Akpan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Katsina United than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Abba Khalid signs something — a contract at Katsina United or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.