Marked for Michele Barbella
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Sep 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 59 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Dimitar Pirgov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match19 Sep 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Malick Fall 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Dobrudzha
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ivaylo Mihaylov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Too much change too quickly at Dobrudzha
9 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“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 dugout21 Sep 2026
Antzelo Sina 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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Michele Barbella is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match12 Sep 2026
Nowhere to hide for Dobrudzha
0‑3 against Slavia Sofia, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Kristiyan Yovov out for 66 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Dobrudzha will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad14 Sep 2026
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market14 Sep 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 Dobrudzha can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
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 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Dobrudzha
Jhonatan Cuero 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Simeon Stoyanov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Di Mateo Lovrić 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.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Sep 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 73 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Dobrudzha close the window on a squad of their own making
15 in and 3 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Dobrudzha have done the hard part with Napoli, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad7 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dobrudzha this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Dobrudzha training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Di Mateo Lovrić 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 dugout7 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Di Mateo Lovrić
“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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Anton Ivanov named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Anton Ivanov is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Market7 Sep 2026
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Dobrudzha will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Sep 2026
Pasquale Rosi damages knee ligaments — 25 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 25 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.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The window shuts on the Arijanet Murić deal
Napoli ran out of time with Sassuolo. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Market7 Sep 2026
David Neres 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 Napoli can pretend not to have heard.
Market7 Sep 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Napoli have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 5 in, 5 out at Napoli
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 5 arrived, 5 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Market7 Sep 2026
Napoli say no — this time
The offer from Lokomotiv Sofia for Dinis Rodrigues 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Napoli heard it as anything else.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Napoli
Michele Barbella 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Aug 2026
80 days out for Kristiyan Yovov after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Dobrudzha will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market31 Aug 2026
“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 Dobrudzha, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Dobrudzha training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Malick Fall 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 targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Fratria have kept their man, and Dobrudzha go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match29 Aug 2026
A 2‑1 win over Cherno More, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Match29 Aug 2026
5 matches without a win, and then this, against Cherno More. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Market31 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Etar have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Plamen Pepelyashev. The answer from Dobrudzha has not changed — yet.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Ninety minutes of Ivaylo Mihaylov at his very best
Marked 8.15. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Dobrudzha.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Dobrudzha have made the call to Napoli. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad31 Aug 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Pasquale Rosi
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Napoli lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
$32.4M on the table at Sassuolo. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Match29 Aug 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑1 against Cagliari, and it could have been more.
Market31 Aug 2026
“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 Napoli, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. AC Milan have kept their man, and Napoli go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.55, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.34, and nobody on the pitch better.
Market31 Aug 2026
Mirandés come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Napoli did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $32.9M — a club that wants Arijanet Murić enough to be asked twice.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Aug 2026
45 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Napoli lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market24 Aug 2026
Máximo Perrone arrives at Napoli in a $30.7M statement of intent
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Napoli have paid $30.7M for Máximo Perrone, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
Market24 Aug 2026
Genoa come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Napoli did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Atalanta wanted more than $9.1M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lazio have kept their man, and Napoli go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Máximo Perrone 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. Máximo Perrone has, at Napoli, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
3 academy graduates step up at Napoli
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.
Market24 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Napoli have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Napoli offered $96.8M; Arsenal said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The offer went to Como 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
SC Freiburg come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Napoli did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $34.8M — a club that wants Máximo Perrone enough to be asked twice.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Napoli
Michele Barbella 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.
The dugout17 Aug 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
“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.
Looking ahead17 Aug 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Fiorentina in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A wage question at Napoli
Wellington Silva has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Arsenal have kept their man, and Napoli go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market3 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market3 Aug 2026
Kevin De Bruyne 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 Napoli hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A move Wellington Silva would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Wellington Silva is living that version at Napoli, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Kevin De Bruyne and Napoli agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market3 Aug 2026
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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“124 caps was 124 more than the boy who started ever expected.” At 35 he has stepped away from the national side and has not stepped away from Napoli.
Market3 Aug 2026
The name of Vanja Milinković-Savić has come up in conversations Napoli were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Napoli
Michele Barbella 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.