Moctar Diop

3 Edition

17 Aug 2026

From our football correspondent Steady

Squad17 Aug 2026

Siebe Van der Heyden breaks a bone — 51 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market17 Aug 2026

KAA Gent turn down Racing Genk for Davy Roef

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

Market17 Aug 2026

Moctar Diop says no to Atromitos

“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Moctar Diop had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.

Market17 Aug 2026

KAA Gent spend $6.7M to raise the standard

This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $6.7M has been paid because Aiham Ousou is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.

Market17 Aug 2026

Max Dean moves on

Lokeren-Temse pay $2.2M, 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.

Squad17 Aug 2026

Siebe Van der Heyden 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 KAA Gent this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match15 Aug 2026

KAA Gent find a way past OH Leuven

OH Leuven made KAA Gent work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

The dugout17 Aug 2026

The manager makes an example of Mathias Delorge

“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.

Boardroom17 Aug 2026

Nobody left the KAA Gent dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

In brief

Squad Aiham Ousou is a square peg at KAA Gent
Player ratings Nobody on the pitch touched Abdelkahar Kadri
Squad 7 new faces, and KAA Gent are still learning each other

3 Edition

17 Aug 2026

From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad17 Aug 2026

Nicolas Kocik keeps Le Mans FC in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad17 Aug 2026

A falling-out at Le Mans FC

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

Transfer targets17 Aug 2026

Door shut on Gessime Yassine

Le Mans FC asked and RC Strasbourg said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Match15 Aug 2026

A bad afternoon for Le Mans FC against Montpellier HSC

0‑2 to Montpellier HSC, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad17 Aug 2026

Le Mans FC lose Théo Eyoum

38 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

The dugout17 Aug 2026

Braian Vargas 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.

Squad17 Aug 2026

Too much change too quickly at Le Mans FC

9 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.

The dugout17 Aug 2026

Richard Nicolas: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

Transfer targets17 Aug 2026

Le Mans FC try to borrow Moctar Diop

KAA Gent 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.

In brief

Transfer targets Le Mans FC ask about Diogo Ferreira
Boardroom Le Mans FC say no to the training-ground money
The dugout Le Mans FC pick somebody else ahead of Walter Domínguez

2 Edition

10 Aug 2026

From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad10 Aug 2026

Siebe Van der Heyden breaks a bone — 59 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 59 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Transfer targets10 Aug 2026

Fee done, terms next for Aiham Ousou

KAA Gent and Charleroi have settled on $6.7M. 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.

Market10 Aug 2026

Max Dean agrees terms with Lokeren-Temse

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

Market10 Aug 2026

KAA Gent say no — this time

The offer from Dender for Abdelkahar Kadri 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.

Transfer targets10 Aug 2026

Door shut on José Marsà

KAA Gent asked and KV Mechelen said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Player ratings10 Aug 2026

No sign of nerves from Moctar Diop at 21 — 7.68

The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Moctar Diop did not need any: 7.68, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Player ratings10 Aug 2026

Leonardo Lopes pops up at the right end — 7.73

7.73, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.

Squad10 Aug 2026

Davy Roef signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Davy Roef commits to KAA Gent for another 3 years.

Match8 Aug 2026

A bad afternoon for KAA Gent against Union SG

4‑5 to Union SG, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

In brief

Squad Tempers go at KAA Gent
Player ratings Maxime Lestienne has a hand in both — 7.65
Match Moctar Diop among the goals in a wild afternoon

The KAA Gent Herald

Siebe Van der Heyden breaks a bone — 51 days out

KAA Gent turn down Racing Genk for Davy Roef

Moctar Diop says no to Atromitos

KAA Gent spend $6.7M to raise the standard

Max Dean moves on

Siebe Van der Heyden in a row with a teammate

KAA Gent find a way past OH Leuven

The manager makes an example of Mathias Delorge

Nobody left the KAA Gent dressing room in a hurry

In brief

The Le Mans FC Sentinel

Nicolas Kocik keeps Le Mans FC in it on his own

A falling-out at Le Mans FC

Door shut on Gessime Yassine

A bad afternoon for Le Mans FC against Montpellier HSC

Le Mans FC lose Théo Eyoum

Braian Vargas gets it from the manager

Too much change too quickly at Le Mans FC

Richard Nicolas: “No excuses”

Le Mans FC try to borrow Moctar Diop

In brief

The KAA Gent Herald

Siebe Van der Heyden breaks a bone — 59 days out

Fee done, terms next for Aiham Ousou

Max Dean agrees terms with Lokeren-Temse

KAA Gent say no — this time

Door shut on José Marsà

No sign of nerves from Moctar Diop at 21 — 7.68

Leonardo Lopes pops up at the right end — 7.73

Davy Roef signs a new deal

A bad afternoon for KAA Gent against Union SG

In brief