Marked for Leart Kabashi
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market14 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. Luzern have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.07, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings14 Aug 2028
Two goals and a mark of 8.95 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market14 Aug 2028
Leart Kabashi hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Luzern can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets14 Aug 2028
Luzern had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at AS Saint-Etienne, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad14 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 Luzern this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 Aug 2028
Aarau made Luzern work for it, but the scoreboard read 4‑3 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Match12 Aug 2028
7 goals as Luzern and Aarau go for it
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Luzern and Aarau, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Luzern have done the hard part with Basel, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The terraces12 Jul 2027
Luzern sell a favourite for $2.0M
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Lars Villiger was one of the reasons people came, and $2.0M does not replace that by itself.
Market12 Jul 2027
Lars Villiger has left for Zurich in a $2.0M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Luzern
Leonardo Bertone 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Luzern
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Irvin Cardona was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
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.
Market12 Jul 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Luzern, another week without a signature from Severin Ottiger.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
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 Rúben Dantas Fernandes is on it.
Market12 Jul 2027
The name of Pascal Loretz keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Luzern say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market21 Jun 2027
The offer from Bellinzona for Nicolas Glaus 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Lubambo Musonda 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.
Market21 Jun 2027
Leart Kabashi has left for Luzern in a $620.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Juventus have kept their man, and Grasshopper go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Simone Stroscio 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.
Market21 Jun 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Grasshopper know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad21 Jun 2027
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Grasshopper will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
The manager makes Tim Meyer a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Grasshopper. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
Allan Arigoni 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 Allan Arigoni trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Jun 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Luzern people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market21 Jun 2027
Luzern say no — this time
The offer from HNK Gorica for Simon Simoni 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.
Market21 Jun 2027
As if he never left: Mirko Salvi returns
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Mirko Salvi is a Luzern player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Squad21 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Luzern
Irvin Cardona and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Luzern
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tim Oberdorf was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Severin Ottiger, and the manager let it.
Market21 Jun 2027
Leart Kabashi is 19, and Luzern have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
Squad21 Jun 2027
5 new faces, and Luzern 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 24 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market24 May 2027
“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.
Squad24 May 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Salifou Diarrassouba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch24 May 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 Grasshopper, and 11 appearances in 41 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout24 May 2027
Tim Meyer 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 Grasshopper, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market24 May 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Grasshopper, another week without a signature from Simone Stroscio.
Market24 May 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Maximilian Ullmann signs something — a contract at Grasshopper or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad24 May 2027
Two hours a week with a tutor, which is the least glamorous thing at Grasshopper and the one that decides whether a foreign signing is still here in two years.
The dugout24 May 2027
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Leart Kabashi has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad17 May 2027
A fracture rules Cristian Paredes out for 32 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Grasshopper will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad17 May 2027
Josh Thomas 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Salifou Diarrassouba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout17 May 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Loan watch17 May 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 Grasshopper, and 0 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
Market17 May 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Julian von Moos signs something — a contract at Grasshopper or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout17 May 2027
The manager makes Óscar Correia a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Grasshopper. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The dugout17 May 2027
Leart Kabashi 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.
Boardroom17 May 2027
12 graduates from an academy now rated 15 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
Squad10 May 2027
A fracture rules Cristian Paredes out for 39 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Grasshopper will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad10 May 2027
Michaël Frey and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout10 May 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.
Loan watch10 May 2027
“I watch every Grasshopper game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Rapperswil-Jona runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Grasshopper training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bujar Pllana 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.
Market10 May 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Justin Hammel’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market10 May 2027
“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.
Loan watch10 May 2027
The goals keep arriving from Lee Young-Jun’s exile
3 goals in 13 games at Moreirense — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Grasshopper updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The dugout10 May 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Allan Arigoni has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad3 May 2027
46 days out for Cristian Paredes after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Grasshopper will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Boardroom3 May 2027
Pressure builds in the Grasshopper boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad3 May 2027
Lubambo Musonda and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Grasshopper training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salifou Diarrassouba 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.
Squad3 May 2027
“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; Grasshopper are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Loan watch3 May 2027
“I did not go to Neuchâtel Xamax to sit and watch. I want to come back to Grasshopper and fight for my place.” 11 appearances in 37 matches say the rest.
The dugout3 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Allan Arigoni, and the manager let it.
Market3 May 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.
The dugout3 May 2027
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.