The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Jong Genk people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from Union SG for Fadel Gobitaka was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Jong Genk is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
In brief
The dugoutDjoully Nzoko knocks on the manager’s door
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Jong Genk have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marcos Peano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Christian Akpan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Kenan Haroun signs something — a contract at Jong Genk or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I am not asking anybody to be better than they are. I am asking everybody to be as good as they are, every week.” Said out loud, in front of everybody, and the room at Jong Genk was different afterwards.
“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 The request is on a desk at Jong Genk, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Jong Genk is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Kenan Haroun 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.
Squad8 May 2028
Marcos Peano falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Squad8 May 2028
A place in the month's best eleven for Kenan Haroun
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Kenan Haroun has come out of that comparison in the side, and Jong Genk have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lino Decresson trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jong Genk can pretend not to have heard.
Marcos Peano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Manu Mocsnik 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Kenan Haroun signs something — a contract at Jong Genk or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Jong Genk can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marcos Peano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Lokeren-Temse in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Jong Genk would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
5 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Jong Genk could ask drops and the wages Fadel Gobitaka can ask rise.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Jong Genk they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Marcos Peano was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Manu Mocsnik was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The first defeat in 4 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Cercle Brugge; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Ayman Rabhi did not need any: 8.52, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Lino Decresson 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Emmanuel Sarfo has his answer from Jong Genk; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Olivier Vliegen 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.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Jong Genk will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Lierse in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Jong Genk know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Mujaid Sadick 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.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Manu Mocsnik falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Jong Genk will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Kenan Haroun, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.26
A mark of 8.26 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Jong Genk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Manu Mocsnik 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 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
“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 dugout16 Aug 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Leander Batshuayi kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
At 20 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
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.
The offer from Cartagena for Mujaid Sadick 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.
Add another name to the list: Paksi have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Josué Kongolo. The answer from Jong Genk has not changed — yet.
Josué Kongolo 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 Jul 2027
Manu Mocsnik 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Myung-jun Kim trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Ayumu Yokoyama 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.
He is 18 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Leander Batshuayi after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
SquadWords at Jong Genk training over how hard people work
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Francs Borains had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The offer from KV Mechelen for Adrián Palacios 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.
6 goals in one match, Victory Beniangba on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Jong Genk and Eupen.
Christian 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 dugout17 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 2‑4 defeat, delivered by Leander Batshuayi to a room that had heard them before.
Beaten 4 times, 1 saves, and an afternoon that will go on his record whether it was his fault or the defence’s. It is the quiet unfairness of the position.