Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Pescara they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pescara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Apr 2036
Words at Pescara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matthew Anderson 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 paperwork is done long before the player is. Eduardo Diez has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Pescara have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
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 Pescara now know that too.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pescara can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Pescara they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Matteo Prati 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.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad7 Apr 2036
Words at Pescara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matthew Anderson 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.
Empoli will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Amr Warda has pre-agreed a move to Pescara, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 12 actions, 7.01, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Pescara they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Sidiki Chérif 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matthew Anderson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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; Pescara are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
8 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Donyell Malen trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Raul Talarico is on it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Pescara will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Raul Talarico will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Pescara the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Sidiki Chérif 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 version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Dimitri Colau is living that version at Pescara, and it tends to show in the first month.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matthew Anderson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.09 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Donyell Malen.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 25 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.12 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. David Lelle will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Pescara the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pescara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mao Hosoya. 1‑0 against Genoa, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
A season average of 7.28 with 9 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad17 Mar 2036
Words at Pescara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ethan Luvambano 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sidiki Chérif will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Pescara the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 33 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 Pescara, and it is not being withdrawn.
Successful dribbles: 27. 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.
The first defeat in 10 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Juventus; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
500 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Diego Mascardi
Player ratingsThe game went through Dean de Kraaij — 7.00
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pescara can pretend not to have heard.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Pescara is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Pescara heard it as anything else.
Sidiki Chérif 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 will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pescara can pretend not to have heard.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Pescara will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Pescara is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Sidiki Chérif 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.
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.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ethan Luvambano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Pescara have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Kingstone Mutandwa reports back to Pescara with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Pescara they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Matteo Prati 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.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Pescara is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ethan Luvambano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings18 Feb 2036
Mikey Moore was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.01. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Pescara people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Pescara, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Torres for Raul Talarico 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 deal that would have taken Filippo Alessio to AS Roma has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Pescara with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Pescara had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Sevilla, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Viktor Švec has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Pescara people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Udinese moved on, Mao Hosoya reports back to Pescara, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 5 arrived, 5 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Sidiki Chérif 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.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Luka Kolar has, at Pescara, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
“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 Pescara, and it is not being withdrawn.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Filippo Alessio scored in the 89th minute, Torino had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Pescara took the lot.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Dolomiti Bellunesi waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Pescara is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.89 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Pescara is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Sidiki Chérif 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 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Pescara they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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 Pescara, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pescara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matthew Anderson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Pescara know it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Luka Nedović
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Pescara have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The offer from Bologna for Sidiki Chérif 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pescara can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andrey Kasadzhikov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Pescara the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pescara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matthew Anderson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
In brief
Player ratingsSidiki Chérif beats them one at a time
“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 Pescara, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Pescara they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matthew Anderson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 5 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Pescara lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
14 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Pescara is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
5 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pescara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mikey Moore. 3‑1 against Udinese, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
30 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Pescara lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
13 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.97 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Pescara they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
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 words a physio says slowly. 38 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Pescara is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Sidiki Chérif 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 unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad10 Dec 2035
Words at Pescara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matthew Anderson 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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Pescara heard it as anything else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Pescara they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Sidiki Chérif 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.
Minute 89, against Avellino, 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 Pescara, another week without a signature from Matteo Prati.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Otis Caporusso has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
In brief
SquadA place in the month's best eleven for Mao Hosoya
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Pescara 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 Pescara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alberto Lunghi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Pescara the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Sidiki Chérif. 1‑0 against Genoa, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
A performance of 8.35 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout12 Nov 2035
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.” Arturo Sala kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Shots: 12. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
The words a physio says slowly. 22 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.
“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 Pescara, and it is not being withdrawn.
The first defeat in 13 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Modena; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Pescara is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Donyell Malen 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.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Ayuub Abdulle has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Pescara has been clear about where Donyell Malen stands, which is more than many ever get.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matthew Anderson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Pescara lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Pescara they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Alberto Lunghi has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad22 Oct 2035
Words at Pescara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Otis Caporusso 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.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 37 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 Pescara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alberto Lunghi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Pescara the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matthew Anderson 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 51 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.34 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Pescara is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Matteo Prati 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Otis Caporusso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Sidiki Chérif. 2‑0 against Frosinone, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The words a physio says slowly. 74 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.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Cagliari had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pescara 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 Pescara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Ajax is saying, and nobody at Pescara is enjoying the guessing.
The clock did what Frosinone would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Squad10 Sep 2035
Words at Pescara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Otis Caporusso 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 paperwork is done long before the player is. Rok Bržan has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Pescara have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Otis Caporusso
The words a physio says slowly. 91 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.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Sidiki Chérif had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Pescara have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Pescara have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
A new deal for the man in the dugout, and the clearest thing a board can say without calling a press conference about it. Stability is cheap to promise and expensive to deliver.
Matteo Prati 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.
99 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Pescara lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Pescara have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The offer from Benevento for Ivan Smolčić 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.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Alen Vukaj reports back to Pescara with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $1.7M — a club that wants Othniël Raterink enough to be asked twice.
94 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Pescara lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Pescara have lost him in all but the paperwork.
$1.4M on the table at Bologna. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Matteo Prati 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.
Everybody at Pescara saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 36 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Lazio paid $460.0K and Pescara took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
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 words a physio says slowly. 125 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 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Pescara have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Pescara is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pescara can pretend not to have heard.
Matteo Prati 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.
Squad2 Jul 2035
Words at Pescara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matthew Anderson 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Pescara people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pescara can pretend not to have heard.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Athletic Bilbao is saying, and nobody at Pescara is enjoying the guessing.
Matteo Prati 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 Jun 2035
Words at Pescara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matthew Anderson 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: Picerno have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Emanuele Scipioni. The answer from Pescara has not changed — yet.
18 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Ármin Pécsi is in the works
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Pescara they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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 Pescara, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Pescara hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
The phone has started ringing about Riccardo Paonessa again, and this time the name on the line is Torino. Pescara are listening politely and promising nothing.
Matteo Prati 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Pescara can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Real Sociedad have kept their man, and Pescara go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Pescara they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pescara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Donyell Malen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mao Hosoya. 1‑0 against Modena, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“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 Pescara, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Pescara is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Matteo Prati 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.
Squad14 May 2035
Words at Pescara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Donyell Malen 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
“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.
Squad14 May 2035
9 new faces, and Pescara are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The words a physio says slowly. 14 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Pescara they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pescara can pretend not to have heard.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Pescara heard it as anything else.
Matteo Prati 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Benjamin Wilson is living that version at Pescara, and it tends to show in the first month.
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Pescara lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pescara can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Pescara they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Donyell Malen was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Torino will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Dean de Kraaij has pre-agreed a move to Pescara, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
The dugout30 Apr 2035
The manager has not finished forgetting Raul Zinni's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Otis Caporusso will call it something else in private.
30 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Pescara lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Riccardo De Zen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Pescara the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pescara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Apr 2035
Words at Pescara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Donyell Malen 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Arturo Sala on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Finlay Cartwright will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Pescara the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Ivan Smolčić 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.
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.
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.
8 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ivan Smolčić will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Pescara the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Two goals and a mark of 8.57 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pescara can pretend not to have heard.
Matteo Prati 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.
Squad9 Apr 2035
Donyell Malen 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.
47 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Pescara lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Pescara heard it as anything else.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Pescara is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Þórir Jóhann Helgason was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Minute 86, against Napoli, 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 Pescara, another week without a signature from Þórir Jóhann Helgason.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Pescara they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pescara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Riccardo De Zen has agreed terms with Virtus Entella for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad26 Feb 2035
Words at Pescara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Donyell Malen 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Pescara can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout26 Feb 2035
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Arturo Sala left the room before anybody could ask which.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ivan Smolčić will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Pescara the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Venezia waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Pescara is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Pescara asked and Fiorentina said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Ivan Smolčić 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Þórir Jóhann Helgason was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Pescara people have started saying his name in the past tense.
He arrived for a fee and leaves for a fraction of it. $442.3K of what Pescara paid for Gastón Maldonado is money the club will not see again, and the boardroom will be asked about it for two seasons.
The phone has started ringing about Mao Hosoya again, and this time the name on the line is Parma. Pescara are listening politely and promising nothing.
Boardroom5 Feb 2035
Pescara close the window on a squad of their own making
4 in and 9 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Pescara heard it as anything else.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Cremonese waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Pescara is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.16 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Palermo have kept their man, and Pescara go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Pescara have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Pescara asked and Juventus said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Matteo Prati 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Þórir Jóhann Helgason was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Pescara is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Matteo Prati 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.
Squad11 Dec 2034
Words at Pescara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Donyell Malen 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Sidiki Chérif. 2‑0 against AS Roma, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“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.
The dugout11 Dec 2034
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.” Arturo Sala, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Agustín Arce will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Pescara the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Matteo Prati 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.
Squad4 Dec 2034
Donyell Malen 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nicolò Moranduzzo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Pescara the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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 Pescara, and it is not being withdrawn.
Matteo Prati 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.
Squad16 Oct 2034
Words at Pescara training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Þórir Jóhann Helgason 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.
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Pescara is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Pescara can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Pescara have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
Matteo Prati 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.
Squad9 Oct 2034
Donyell Malen 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 happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 34 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Marked 8.43 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Pescara they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Pescara know it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Þórir Jóhann Helgason was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The deal with Napoli is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Pescara have lost him in all but the paperwork.
He arrived for a fee and leaves for a fraction of it. $510.8K of what Pescara paid for Nicholas Callarà is money the club will not see again, and the boardroom will be asked about it for two seasons.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Pescara is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom4 Sep 2034
Deadline passes with 21 signed and 36 gone
That is the business done at Pescara until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
11 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Lucas Soto has agreed terms with Bologna for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pescara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Carpi had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
$3.7M on the table at Cremonese. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The offer went to Genoa 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.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Pescara hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Farès Ghedjemis has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Pescara this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.