Babacar Fall

Central Defender - FC Nantes U20
27 Aug 2028
Sunday
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Marked for Babacar Fall

82 Edition

The FC Nantes Sentinel

21 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad21 Feb 2028

The knee: Babacar Fall out for 21 days

21 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. FC Nantes lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad21 Feb 2028

A falling-out at FC Nantes

Warren Zaïre-Emery and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad21 Feb 2028

Words at FC Nantes training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Willian Pacho 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.

Transfer targets21 Feb 2028

Door shut on Rayane Messi

FC Nantes 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.

The dugout21 Feb 2028

The manager makes an example of Deiver Machado

“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.

Match19 Feb 2028

FC Nantes come up short against Rodez AF

Rodez AF left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Loan watch21 Feb 2028

Alexis Mirbach’s loan is measured in nothing happening

11 clean sheets from 27 appearances at Le Mans FC. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.

Squad21 Feb 2028

11 new faces, and FC Nantes 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.

Loan watch21 Feb 2028

Héraba Gassama counts the days

“I watch every FC Nantes game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Clermont Foot runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

In brief

Back issues
81 Edition

The FC Nantes Sentinel

14 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad14 Feb 2028

A knee injury of the worst kind for Babacar Fall

29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FC Nantes lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market14 Feb 2028

Dehmaine Tabibou says no to AS Nancy

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

Match12 Feb 2028

FC Nantes run riot against USL Dunkerque

3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Player ratings14 Feb 2028

Fabián scores twice — 8.96

Two goals and a mark of 8.96 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Market14 Feb 2028

Willian Pacho wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Squad14 Feb 2028

A muscle injury and 14 days out for Dehmaine Tabibou

The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. FC Nantes will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.

Market14 Feb 2028

JS Saoura come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and FC Nantes did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Market14 Feb 2028

So close: Alban Lafont’s move dies late

The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Dijon moved on, Alban Lafont reports back to FC Nantes, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.

Transfer targets14 Feb 2028

Door shut on Jacques Siwe

FC Nantes asked and AS Saint-Etienne said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

In brief

80 Edition

The FC Nantes Sentinel

7 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad7 Feb 2028

Babacar Fall damages knee ligaments — 36 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 36 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.

Market7 Feb 2028

Mathieu Cafaro turns Bourg-Peronnas down

“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.

Market7 Feb 2028

Alban Lafont agrees terms with Dijon

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

Market7 Feb 2028

Udinese come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and FC Nantes did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Market7 Feb 2028

Alban Lafont asks to leave FC Nantes

“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.

The dugout7 Feb 2028

Tom Ducrocq says FC Nantes went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Player ratings7 Feb 2028

A defender's goal wins it for FC Nantes — 7.73

1 for Fabián, marked 7.73, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.

Boardroom7 Feb 2028

Deadline passes with 11 signed and 8 gone

That is the business done at FC Nantes 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.

Squad7 Feb 2028

Tempers go at FC Nantes

Warren Zaïre-Emery 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.

In brief

79 Edition

The FC Nantes Sentinel

31 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad31 Jan 2028

20 days out for Paul Pogba after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. FC Nantes will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad31 Jan 2028

A knee injury of the worst kind for Babacar Fall

45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FC Nantes lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Market31 Jan 2028

AS Nancy come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and FC Nantes did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Market31 Jan 2028

Ben Old is a FC Nantes player

The fee is $6.5M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. AS Saint-Etienne drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.

Market31 Jan 2028

Lamine Diack asks to leave FC Nantes

“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.

Transfer targets31 Jan 2028

Door shut on Antoine Sekongo

FC Nantes asked and USL Dunkerque said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Market31 Jan 2028

Eyes on Louis Leroux again

The phone has started ringing about Louis Leroux again, and this time the name on the line is Udinese. FC Nantes are listening politely and promising nothing.

Transfer targets31 Jan 2028

Joshua Frau due for a FC Nantes medical

Everything agreed with Sochaux, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.

Squad31 Jan 2028

Warren Zaïre-Emery 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 FC Nantes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief