From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Aug 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Riyadh can pretend not to have heard.
Squad9 Aug 2027
The medical room confirms 59 days on the sidelines for Fahad Al-Munaif, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Dhari Fahad commits to Al-Riyadh for another 4 years.
Market9 Aug 2027
The name of Mohammed Suhluli has come up in conversations Al-Riyadh were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Boardroom9 Aug 2027
98% of the income goes out in wages at Al-Riyadh
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Market9 Aug 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
In brief
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Market
Experience through the door at Al-Riyadh
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Squad
Somebody is after Yoann Barbet’s shirt
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Squad
The manager comes out for Tozé
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad19 Jul 2027
The medical room confirms 35 days on the sidelines for Victor Lekhal, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad19 Jul 2027
The medical room confirms 50 days on the sidelines for Yahia Al-Shehri, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Jul 2027
The name of Mohammed Suhluli has come up in conversations Al-Riyadh were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Boardroom12 Jul 2027
136% of the income goes out in wages at Al-Riyadh
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Squad12 Jul 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Apr 2027
Ammar Al-Harfi: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Riyadh have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad26 Apr 2027
The medical room confirms 119 days on the sidelines for Victor Lekhal, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad26 Apr 2027
The medical room confirms 134 days on the sidelines for Yahia Al-Shehri, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Jan 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Al-Riyadh have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad4 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Pablo Ocampo
“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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Yuta Tanaka commits to Al-Riyadh for another 2 years.
Loan watch4 Jan 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Al-Riyadh, and 8 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Eliandro knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Al-Riyadh, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Match2 Jan 2027
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Al-Shoulla defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match17 Oct 2026
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Al-Riyadh did not have in the autumn.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“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.
Loan watch19 Oct 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Al-Riyadh, and 2 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Yahia Al-Shehri asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market19 Oct 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Osama Al-Bawardi may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market31 Aug 2026
“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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Al-Riyadh make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Al-Riyadh have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“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.
Match29 Aug 2026
Three points for Al-Riyadh, 1-0 the final word against Al-Batin in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Market31 Aug 2026
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Al-Riyadh will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Al-Riyadh, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad31 Aug 2026
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Al-Riyadh have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Market31 Aug 2026
The name of Leandro Antunes keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Al-Riyadh say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market24 Aug 2026
“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.
Market24 Aug 2026
Hajer pay $190.0K, 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Al-Riyadh have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Eliandro 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
Three points for Al-Riyadh, 1-0 the final word against Damac in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Market24 Aug 2026
Al-Nahda are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Al-Riyadh will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Riyadh can pretend not to have heard.
Market3 Aug 2026
Al-Njoom come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Al-Riyadh did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Mamadou Sylla commits to Al-Riyadh for another 2 years.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market3 Aug 2026
The clock runs on Mamadou Sylla's contract
24 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.