Marked for Bader Kabli
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad21 Jun 2032
A knee injury of the worst kind for Dino Halilović
134 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Wehda lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad21 Jun 2032
52 days out for Ammar Al-Najjar after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al-Wehda will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market21 Jun 2032
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Al-Wehda people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market21 Jun 2032
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al-Wehda is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad21 Jun 2032
Muteb Al-Mufarrij 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.
Squad21 Jun 2032
Words at Al-Wehda training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Farhah Al-Shamrani 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 targets21 Jun 2032
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Juventud have kept their man, and Al-Wehda go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market21 Jun 2032
The phone has started ringing about Mohammed Al-Shalawi again, and this time the name on the line is Najran. Al-Wehda are listening politely and promising nothing.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2032
A loan enquiry to PAOK: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Jun 2032
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.
Market14 Jun 2032
Al-Fateh come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Al-Wehda did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market14 Jun 2032
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2032
The deal with Al-Taawoun is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2032
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at America de Cali is saying, and nobody at Al-Wehda is enjoying the guessing.
Squad14 Jun 2032
Nawaf Al-Aqidi 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.
Squad14 Jun 2032
Awaji Olwani gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Awaji Olwani has just signed for Al-Wehda, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad14 Jun 2032
Ali Adnan 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.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2032
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Fateh have kept their man, and Al-Wehda go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad10 May 2032
47 days out for Nawaf Al-Aqidi after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al-Wehda will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad10 May 2032
A season average of 7.17 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Al-Wehda know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Market10 May 2032
Bader Kabli has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Al-Wehda they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad10 May 2032
Words exchanged at Al-Wehda
Nawaf Al-Aqidi 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.
Squad10 May 2032
Words at Al-Wehda training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ali Al-Salem 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 dugout10 May 2032
“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.
Market10 May 2032
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Peter Olayinka signs something — a contract at Al-Wehda or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout10 May 2032
Nasser Al-Bishi has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Al-Wehda will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout10 May 2032
Issam Al-Qarni 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 Al-Wehda, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Apr 2032
A fracture rules Nawaf Al-Aqidi out for 75 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Wehda will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad12 Apr 2032
At 20, Saad Al-Enezi is already the best thing here
An average of 7.17 in a first team he is several years too young for. Al-Wehda have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Market12 Apr 2032
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al-Wehda is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad12 Apr 2032
Words exchanged at Al-Wehda
Nawaf Al-Aqidi 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 Apr 2032
Ali Adnan 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.
The dugout12 Apr 2032
“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.
Market12 Apr 2032
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Peter Olayinka signs something — a contract at Al-Wehda or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout12 Apr 2032
Nasser Al-Bishi has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Al-Wehda will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout12 Apr 2032
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Al-Wehda. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Apr 2032
A fracture rules Nawaf Al-Aqidi out for 82 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Wehda will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market5 Apr 2032
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al-Wehda is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The dugout5 Apr 2032
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Al-Wehda may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad5 Apr 2032
“The easiest signature of my career.” Muteb Al-Mufarrij and Al-Wehda agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Apr 2032
A falling-out at Al-Wehda
Nawaf Al-Aqidi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Apr 2032
Words at Al-Wehda training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ali Adnan 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.
Market5 Apr 2032
“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.
Market5 Apr 2032
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Wehda know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout5 Apr 2032
Wadhah Malik has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Al-Wehda will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Mar 2032
103 days out for Nawaf Al-Aqidi after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al-Wehda will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad15 Mar 2032
At 19, Saad Al-Enezi is already the best thing here
An average of 7.17 in a first team he is several years too young for. Al-Wehda have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Market15 Mar 2032
Bader Kabli has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Al-Wehda they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom15 Mar 2032
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Bader Kabli has agreed terms with Al-Khaleej for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad15 Mar 2032
Hussain Al-Zarie 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.
Squad15 Mar 2032
A row about effort at Al-Wehda
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ali Adnan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Mar 2032
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.
The dugout15 Mar 2032
The manager makes an example of Nasser Al-Bishi
“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 dugout15 Mar 2032
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Al-Wehda, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad12 Jan 2032
74 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Wehda lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market12 Jan 2032
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Player ratings12 Jan 2032
Age has not caught Peter Olayinka yet — 8.13
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.13 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market12 Jan 2032
“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.
Market12 Jan 2032
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al-Wehda is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market12 Jan 2032
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Match10 Jan 2032
Al-Wehda make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Al-Wehda have 3 straight wins of it.
Boardroom12 Jan 2032
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Transfer targets12 Jan 2032
Al-Wehda asked and Najran said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
In brief
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Squad
Words exchanged at Al-Wehda
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Squad
Peter Olayinka is in the form of his life
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Match
Another one collected away from home
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Dec 2031
102 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Wehda lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings15 Dec 2031
A brace, and Saad Al-Enezi takes the afternoon — 9.10
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Saad Al-Enezi provided it, and the 9.10 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings15 Dec 2031
Age has not caught Peter Olayinka yet — 9.21
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.21 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The dugout15 Dec 2031
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Al-Wehda may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market15 Dec 2031
“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.
Market15 Dec 2031
Sultan Harun has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Al-Wehda they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match13 Dec 2031
Al-Wehda make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Al-Wehda have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad15 Dec 2031
Words exchanged at Al-Wehda
Nawaf Al-Aqidi 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.
Match13 Dec 2031
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Al-Wehda and Al-Fayha in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings17 Nov 2031
Successful dribbles: 42. 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.
Squad17 Nov 2031
130 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Wehda lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match12 Nov 2031
Al-Wehda bow out of the cup
Al-Faisaly go through and Al-Wehda go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Match15 Nov 2031
3‑0, and Saad Al-Enezi took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Al-Wehda tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings17 Nov 2031
No sign of nerves from Saad Al-Enezi at 19 — 8.24
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Saad Al-Enezi did not need any: 8.24, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings17 Nov 2031
Peter Olayinka, 36, rolls back the years — 8.77
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.77 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market17 Nov 2031
Bader Kabli 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 Al-Wehda can pretend not to have heard.
Market17 Nov 2031
Only the photograph left for Sultan Harun
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Sultan Harun will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Wehda the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad17 Nov 2031
Words exchanged at Al-Wehda
Nawaf Al-Aqidi 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
Upbeat
The dugout20 Oct 2031
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Al-Wehda may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings20 Oct 2031
Darwin González, 37, rolls back the years — 8.62
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.62 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market20 Oct 2031
“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.
Market20 Oct 2031
Sultan Harun has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Al-Wehda they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match18 Oct 2031
Whatever happens, Al-Wehda do not lose
7 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad20 Oct 2031
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Wehda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Oct 2031
A row about effort at Al-Wehda
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ali Adnan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad20 Oct 2031
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Al-Wehda know it.
The dugout20 Oct 2031
The manager makes an example of Peter Olayinka
“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.
In brief
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Looking ahead
Top-of-the-table clash for Al-Wehda
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Player ratings
A masterclass from Demba Diallo
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Match
Late, late show earns Al-Wehda a point
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad22 Sep 2031
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al-Wehda will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad22 Sep 2031
Mohammed Al-Sheikh damages knee ligaments — 19 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 19 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.
The dugout22 Sep 2031
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Wehda have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Player ratings22 Sep 2031
Darwin González, 37, rolls back the years — 8.25
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.25 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market22 Sep 2031
“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.
Market22 Sep 2031
Sultan Harun has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Al-Wehda they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad22 Sep 2031
Words exchanged at Al-Wehda
Nawaf Al-Aqidi 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.
Squad22 Sep 2031
Ali Al-Salem 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.
The dugout22 Sep 2031
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings25 Aug 2031
Successful dribbles: 35. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match23 Aug 2031
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
The dugout25 Aug 2031
Mohammed Al-Kadi: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Wehda have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market25 Aug 2031
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Al-Shoulla waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Al-Wehda is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Player ratings25 Aug 2031
Ammar Al-Najjar, 34, rolls back the years — 8.54
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.54 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market25 Aug 2031
“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 Al-Wehda, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market25 Aug 2031
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al-Wehda is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad25 Aug 2031
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Hussain Al-Zarie commits to Al-Wehda for another 4 years.
Squad25 Aug 2031
Words exchanged at Al-Wehda
Nawaf Al-Aqidi 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
Squad30 Jun 2031
Peter Olayinka damages knee ligaments — 63 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 63 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.
Market30 Jun 2031
“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 Al-Wehda, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets30 Jun 2031
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Al-Ta'ee keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Market30 Jun 2031
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Abdulrahman Al-Senaidi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Wehda the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad30 Jun 2031
Nawaf Al-Aqidi 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.
Squad30 Jun 2031
Ali Adnan 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.
Market30 Jun 2031
The phone has started ringing about Sultan Harun again, and this time the name on the line is Al-Hazem. Al-Wehda are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad30 Jun 2031
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Al-Wehda know it.
Market30 Jun 2031
Omar Al-Hassan is 17, and Al-Wehda 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad23 Jun 2031
43 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Wehda lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market23 Jun 2031
Al-Wehda say no — this time
The offer from Al-Fateh for Nawaf Al-Aqidi 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.
Squad23 Jun 2031
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Mohammed Al-Kadi has just signed for Al-Wehda, and for once the answer mattered.
Market23 Jun 2031
The fee is $490.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Al-Njoom drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad23 Jun 2031
Words exchanged at Al-Wehda
Nawaf Al-Aqidi 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 targets23 Jun 2031
Al-Ra'ed wanted more than $390.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad23 Jun 2031
A row about effort at Al-Wehda
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ali Adnan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market23 Jun 2031
No place for Bader Kabli in the plan
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Bader Kabli has his answer from Al-Wehda; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout23 Jun 2031
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces19 May 2031
Supporters organise against the Al-Wehda board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Squad19 May 2031
A knee injury of the worst kind for Augustine Oladapo
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Wehda lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad19 May 2031
Salem Al-Toiawy gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Salem Al-Toiawy has just signed for Al-Wehda, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad19 May 2031
A falling-out at Al-Wehda
Nawaf Al-Aqidi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 May 2031
Ali Al-Salem 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.
The dugout19 May 2031
The manager makes an example of Anas Al-Zahrani
“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 dugout19 May 2031
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Hamed Al-Maghati trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market19 May 2031
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Nawaf Al-Aqidi signs something — a contract at Al-Wehda or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market19 May 2031
No fee and no drama: Salem Al-Toiawy has signed at Al-Wehda, and the wage bill is the only line that moved.