“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sabadell have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad1 Apr 2030
Words at Sabadell training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aarón Ochoa 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.
Mamadou Koné 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.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Sabadell is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Sabadell told Pablo García something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sabadell know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nobody at Sabadell 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 offer from Huesca for Jorge Herrando 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.
He arrived for a fee and leaves for a fraction of it. $449.8K of what Sabadell paid for Víctor is money the club will not see again, and the boardroom will be asked about it for two seasons.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sabadell can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Sabadell close the window on a squad of their own making
19 in and 21 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.
The phone has started ringing about Mariano Barreda again, and this time the name on the line is Arenas Club. Sabadell are listening politely and promising nothing.
In brief
SquadWords at Sabadell training over how hard people work
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Talavera can pretend not to have heard.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Talavera have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Talavera and Cádiz have settled on $630.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
Talavera close the window on a squad of their own making
32 in and 16 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.
“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 Talavera hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Yevhen Chahovets has just signed for Talavera, and for once the answer mattered.
Franco Rivasseau 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Matías Rotundo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Talavera the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Talavera had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Betis, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Talavera this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Talavera offered $220.0K; Cultural Leonesa 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.
Squad6 Aug 2029
Words at Talavera training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Román Zarza 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Arenas Club will make the call about Santiago Coronel this week. Talavera have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Real Sociedad waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Talavera 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 Talavera, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Talavera they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Javier Belman 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 phone has started ringing about Santiago Coronel again, and this time the name on the line is Arenas Club. Talavera are listening politely and promising nothing.
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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Marbella waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Talavera is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The offer went to Real Sociedad 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.
Albacete paid $140.0K and Talavera took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Maykol Méndez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Talavera the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Javier Belman 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.
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.
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 Javier Belman is on it.
Something was said to Fran Svraka and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The words a physio says slowly. 27 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.
Player ratings4 Sep 2028
Benjamín Godoy could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 8.09
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 8.09, 1 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Talavera can pretend not to have heard.
The name of João Bom has come up in conversations Talavera were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Boardroom4 Sep 2028
Deadline passes with 18 signed and 16 gone
That is the business done at Talavera until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
3 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.
The deal that would have taken Dermot Mee to Andorra has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Talavera with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
The offer went to Valencia 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.