Marked for Ryan Francisco
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Aug 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Sport Recife have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market24 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ryan Francisco and Sport Recife agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Sabino 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 dugout24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ryan Francisco, and the manager let it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Matheus Menezes and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Marked 7.98. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 15. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The form table has caught Lucas Moura
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
In brief
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Player ratings
Nobody on the pitch touched Wendell
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Match
Cauly rescues a point for Sport Recife
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match22 Aug 2026
Nowhere to hide for Vojvodina
0‑4 against Partizan, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Market24 Aug 2026
“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.
Market24 Aug 2026
Kufre Eta 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 Vojvodina, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
At 35 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.98, and nobody on the pitch better.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
$1.7M on the table at Remo Stars. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Market24 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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with Sport Recife, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Market24 Aug 2026
OFK Vršac pay $770.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market10 Aug 2026
“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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Moreirense come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Sport Recife did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market10 Aug 2026
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Sport Recife heard it as anything else.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Marcos Antonio and Sport Recife agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Jonathan Calleri 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Sport Recife training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcos Antonio 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.
Match8 Aug 2026
Botafogo left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lucas Moura, and the manager let it.