Marked for Gregorio Pulero
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Aug 2028
The shirt still fits. Jesús Areso is back at Osasuna, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Transfer targets21 Aug 2028
Osasuna asked and Real Sociedad said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market21 Aug 2028
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Osasuna have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market21 Aug 2028
“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.
Market21 Aug 2028
Marbella come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Osasuna did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
The dugout21 Aug 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Osasuna may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad21 Aug 2028
The step up is real for João Rijo
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Boardroom21 Aug 2028
5 academy graduates step up at Osasuna
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Squad21 Aug 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Osasuna this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Jun 2028
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Osasuna people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad12 Jun 2028
A fracture rules Gregorio Pulero out for 20 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Osasuna will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
The offer went to Real Madrid 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.
Market12 Jun 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market12 Jun 2028
Sergio Herrera wants to know where this is going
“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 Osasuna hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Boardroom12 Jun 2028
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $3.0M — a club that wants Horaţiu Moldovan enough to be asked twice.
Transfer targets12 Jun 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Real Madrid have kept their man, and Osasuna go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout12 Jun 2028
The manager makes an example of Raúl García
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Jun 2028
“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 Osasuna, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Jun 2028
A fracture rules Gregorio Pulero out for 29 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Osasuna will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market5 Jun 2028
Teruel come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Osasuna did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
The offer went to Atlético Madrid 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.
Market5 Jun 2028
Aimar wants to know where this is going
“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 Osasuna hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Words exchanged at Osasuna
Aimar 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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Leandro Alcaraz arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Leandro Alcaraz has, at Osasuna, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Market5 Jun 2028
Add another name to the list: Real Avilés have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Carlos Lumbreras. The answer from Osasuna has not changed — yet.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 May 2028
37 days out for Gregorio Pulero after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Osasuna will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom29 May 2028
The scrutiny sharpens at Osasuna
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Osasuna is running low.
Squad29 May 2028
Words exchanged at Osasuna
Rufino Lucero 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 dugout29 May 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Diego Espejo, and the manager let it.
The dugout29 May 2028
Dani González knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dani González trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market29 May 2028
The name of Jonathan Dubasin keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Osasuna say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout29 May 2028
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The dugout29 May 2028
The manager comes out for Rubén García
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Rubén García has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
Boardroom29 May 2028
Osasuna keep producing them
19 graduates from an academy now rated 11 out of 20. A club this size does not survive any other way, and every name on that list is known in the town.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match20 May 2028
Osasuna throw away a 2-goal lead
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Girona the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Osasuna will enjoy reviewing.
Match22 May 2028
Osasuna finish in position 13
45 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.
Squad22 May 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings22 May 2028
Two goals and a mark of 8.63 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market22 May 2028
Only the photograph left for Rufino Lucero
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rufino Lucero will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Osasuna the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad22 May 2028
Ademola Lookman 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.
Player ratings22 May 2028
Both jobs done by Aimar — 7.13
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. 14 actions, 7.13, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
The dugout22 May 2028
“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.
Market22 May 2028
Asier Osambela is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Osasuna has been clear about where Asier Osambela stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 May 2028
A fracture rules Gregorio Pulero out for 54 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Osasuna will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad15 May 2028
João Rijo is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad15 May 2028
A falling-out at Osasuna
Asier Osambela and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout15 May 2028
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Antonio Cortés after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Squad15 May 2028
One booking too many, and Jonathan Dubasin sits out. Osasuna lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.
Market15 May 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Flavien-Enzo Boyomo’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Loan watch15 May 2028
37 appearances away from home and 7 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
The dugout15 May 2028
Valentin Rosier 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.
Match13 May 2028
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Athletic Bilbao came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 May 2028
A fracture rules Gregorio Pulero out for 63 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Osasuna will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match6 May 2028
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 89th, and Alavés spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Squad8 May 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad8 May 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ante Budimir and Osasuna agree another 2 years.
Squad8 May 2028
Words exchanged at Osasuna
Aimar 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.
Match6 May 2028
Alavés made Osasuna work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings8 May 2028
A performance of 8.28 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings8 May 2028
One of those days for Aimar
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.15, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings8 May 2028
Nobody could get near Kike Barja
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 May 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 71 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom1 May 2028
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Osasuna
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Squad1 May 2028
Aimar 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.
Match29 Apr 2028
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout1 May 2028
A promise honoured at Osasuna
Something was said to Ademola Lookman and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout1 May 2028
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 Romain Del Castillo.
Loan watch1 May 2028
Luka Ríos wants to come home
“I did not go to Ourense CF to sit and watch. I want to come back to Osasuna and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 34 matches say the rest.
The dugout1 May 2028
“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.
Market1 May 2028
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Osasuna know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match22 Apr 2028
3‑0, and Ademola Lookman took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Osasuna tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 78 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
Two goals and a mark of 8.99 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 29. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market24 Apr 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Osasuna is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings24 Apr 2028
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 dugout24 Apr 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Romain Del Castillo, and the manager let it.
Squad24 Apr 2028
A falling-out at Osasuna
Rufino Lucero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout24 Apr 2028
A promise honoured at Osasuna
Something was said to Raúl Moro and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Apr 2028
86 days out for Gregorio Pulero after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Osasuna will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Match15 Apr 2028
Racing Santander left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
Successful dribbles: 17. 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.
Player ratings17 Apr 2028
The afternoon belonged to Aimar
A mark of 7.98, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout17 Apr 2028
The manager makes an example of Eneko Jauregi
“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 terraces17 Apr 2028
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
Market17 Apr 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Flavien-Enzo Boyomo’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Looking ahead17 Apr 2028
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Levante in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.