The words a physio says slowly. 46 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 Levadia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadMollo Bessala falls out with a teammate over standards
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 The request is on a desk at Levadia, and it is not being withdrawn.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.13, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 36 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Mollo Bessala 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 43 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mollo Bessala 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.
Maxim Martusevich 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 50 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Mollo Bessala 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 57 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.13, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
In brief
SquadWords at Levadia training over how hard people work
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 66 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Mollo Bessala 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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
3 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 73 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Marcelino Ñamandú 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mollo Bessala 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Levadia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Two goals and a mark of 8.71 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Levadia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.93 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 89 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Levadia can pretend not to have heard.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abdourahman Badamosi provided it, and the 9.21 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.79 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The name of Michel Babatunde has come up in conversations Levadia were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
A season average of 7.08 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Levadia know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Marcelino Ñamandú 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Levadia and Parnu, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
In brief
SquadWords at Levadia training over how hard people work
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 98 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Mollo Bessala 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 105 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Levadia, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.86 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Every long career reaches the week the player starts thinking about the last one. He would like it to be at the club that first put him on a pitch, and Levadia now know that too.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mollo Bessala 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.
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Levadia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 112 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Levadia can pretend not to have heard.
“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; Levadia are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad24 May 2027
Mollo Bessala 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.
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Levadia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 119 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Levadia can pretend not to have heard.
Two goals and a mark of 8.84 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
An average of 7.01 in a first team he is several years too young for. Levadia have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mollo Bessala 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 particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Lautaro López 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 36 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 Levadia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Abdourahman Badamosi provided it, and the 8.79 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Marcelino Ñamandú 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 Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mollo Bessala 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.
At 23 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.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Michel Babatunde may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
In brief
Player ratingsThe pass was always on for Diego Rivero
44 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Levadia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Levadia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The words a physio says slowly. 53 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 86 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Levadia can pretend not to have heard.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.90 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
In brief
SquadMollo Bessala falls out with a teammate over standards
The words a physio says slowly. 60 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 93 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
A brace, and Mollo Bessala takes the afternoon — 9.30
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mollo Bessala provided it, and the 9.30 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Abdourahman Badamosi did not need any: 8.87, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
6 goals in one match, Mollo Bessala on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Levadia and Parnu.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mollo Bessala 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.
Maxim Martusevich 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Abdourahman Badamosi 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Joonas Teniste is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The words a physio says slowly. 67 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 Levadia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
1‑6 to Paide, 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.
“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 Levadia, and it is not being withdrawn.
7 goals in one match, Lautaro López on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Levadia and Paide.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Mollo Bessala 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
77 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Levadia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Levadia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Levadia can pretend not to have heard.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Levadia scored in the 94th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Two goals and a mark of 8.36 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mollo Bessala 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.
Matías Calzón 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.
At 23 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 58 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Vitaliy Myronenko has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Levadia have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
In brief
SquadDiego Rivero falls out with a teammate over standards
66 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Levadia 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 Levadia, and it is not being withdrawn.
Artur Pikk 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Levadia training over how hard people work
Squad5 new faces, and Levadia are still learning each other
73 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Levadia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Mollo Bessala 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
80 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Levadia 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 Levadia, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Matías Calzón is living that version at Levadia, and it tends to show in the first month.
89 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Levadia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Marcus Uberaba has just signed for Levadia, 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 Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadMollo Bessala falls out with a teammate over standards
96 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Levadia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Lautaro López has just signed for Levadia, and for once the answer mattered.
103 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Levadia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
110 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Levadia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mollo Bessala 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.
Maxim Martusevich 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.
117 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Levadia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Mollo Bessala 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.
124 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Levadia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Mollo Bessala 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 words a physio says slowly. 132 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Mollo Bessala 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.
In brief
SquadMollo Bessala has become a man the manager trusts
Mollo Bessala 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Aaron Atkinson has just signed for Levadia, and for once the answer mattered.
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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Artur Pikk 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mollo Bessala 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.
Nobody at Levadia 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Conor Grant is living that version at Levadia, and it tends to show in the first month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michel Babatunde 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.
Mikhail Sivakov 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.
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.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Mollo Bessala obliged against Narva Trans. 3‑1 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Levadia.
Two goals and a mark of 8.90 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The offer from Enyimba for Michel Babatunde 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.
Marcelino Ñamandú 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mikhail Sivakov 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.
Add another name to the list: Spartaks have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Michel Babatunde. The answer from Levadia has not changed — yet.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Levadia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Michel Babatunde 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.
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.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Levadia will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Levadia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Levadia know it, and so does everybody who watches him.