Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Mouscron waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Anderlecht is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 The request is on a desk at Anderlecht, and it is not being withdrawn.
“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 Anderlecht hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Hendrik Van Crombrugge will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Anderlecht the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Rayane Bounida 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.
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Anderlecht lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Anderlecht will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Pedro de la Vega wants continental football; whether Anderlecht can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Danylo Sikan 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.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Paul Pogba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
22 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Anderlecht lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Anderlecht will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
31 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Anderlecht lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 63 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Anderlecht heard it as anything else.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Anderlecht and OH Leuven in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
In brief
SquadWords at Anderlecht training over how hard people work
40 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Anderlecht lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 72 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anderlecht this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Paul Pogba was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
10 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
48 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Anderlecht lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Anderlecht will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anderlecht this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Christian Meunier and Anderlecht agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Anderlecht heard it as anything else.
2‑0 against PSV, and a performance that will be described to people who were not there for the rest of the season. Rayane Bounida was at the centre of the description.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Anderlecht will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Charleroi will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Anderlecht were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.87 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anderlecht this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
In brief
SquadWords at Anderlecht training over how hard people work
SquadThomas Sajous arrives at the club he grew up with