Marked for Denilson Cabral
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
The clubs have shaken hands with NK Osijek; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Lucko may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Lucko
Ivan Katić 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.
Transfer targets14 Jun 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Lucko
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Katić was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
NK Varazdin have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
A loan enquiry to HNK Rijeka: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Filip Mihaljević, and the manager let it.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
Lovro Stanić 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 Lucko, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Apr 2027
Robert Ćosić 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 Lucko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Lucko training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dominik Celija 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 dugout12 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mario Babić, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Mar 2027
25 days out for Hassan Muhammad after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Lucko will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Lucko
Ivan Katić 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Daniel Katić 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Mar 2027
A fracture rules Hassan Muhammad out for 32 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Lucko will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Ivan Katić 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 Lucko this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Lovro Stanić 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Mar 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 40 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Robert Ćosić commits to Lucko for another 3 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Lucko
Robert Ćosić and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Lucko training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Katić 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.
Market8 Mar 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 dugout8 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Teo Sandev
“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.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
$1.1M taken back off the Lucko table
What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.
Market8 Mar 2027
Lucko shop where it costs nothing
Denilson Cabral signs, and the fee column stays empty. Deals like this look small in July and clever by March — or they are never mentioned again.