Marked for Karim Diop
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market23 Aug 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at Sampdoria, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market23 Aug 2027
The bid was some way short and Sampdoria did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
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Squad23 Aug 2027
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad23 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sampdoria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Aug 2027
At 25 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
Boardroom23 Aug 2027
4 academy graduates step up at Sampdoria
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.
Market23 Aug 2027
Cosenza pay $140.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Market23 Aug 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Giuseppe Gentile 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.
In brief
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Squad
Words at Sampdoria training over how hard people work
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Boardroom
No investment in the facilities at Sampdoria
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The dugout
Karim Diop gets it from the manager
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market12 Jul 2027
“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.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
Karim Diop: 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.” Sampdoria have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market12 Jul 2027
The phone has started ringing about Rodrigo Linares again, and this time the name on the line is Vicenza. Sampdoria are listening politely and promising nothing.
Market12 Jul 2027
AlbinoLeffe pay $1.2M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Sampdoria
Salvatore Esposito 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 dugout12 Jul 2027
“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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Sampdoria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Conti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom12 Jul 2027
90% of the income goes out in wages at Sampdoria
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Market12 Jul 2027
The name of Yari Verschaeren keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Sampdoria say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout31 May 2027
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The dugout31 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sampdoria may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad31 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sampdoria this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout31 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Karim Diop, and the manager let it.
Squad31 May 2027
A row about effort at Sampdoria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Liam Henderson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad31 May 2027
Karim Diop: “I am not a substitute”
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Sampdoria will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Market31 May 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Manuel Cicconi signs something — a contract at Sampdoria or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout31 May 2027
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 Stefan Gartenmann is on it.
Market31 May 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Mattia Viti may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Apr 2027
“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.
Match3 Apr 2027
Sampdoria win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 94th minute. Carrarese will replay every second of the added time for a week.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
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Match3 Apr 2027
7 matches without a win, and then this, against Carrarese. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Match3 Apr 2027
It finished 3‑2, and it was Liam Henderson’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Sampdoria.
Squad5 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Sampdoria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Liam Henderson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Ninety minutes of Liam Henderson at his very best
Marked 8.18. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Sampdoria.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Yari Verschaeren was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.08. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Oliver Abildgaard and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match6 Feb 2027
Südtirol will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Sampdoria were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Market8 Feb 2027
“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.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
A brace, and Nicholas Pierini takes the afternoon — 8.98
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Nicholas Pierini provided it, and the 8.98 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sampdoria may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Sampdoria training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salvatore Esposito 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 terraces8 Feb 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Tjaš Begić has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Squad8 Feb 2027
50 goals in these colours now, every one of them somebody’s memory. There is a supporter in the stand who can tell you where he was for most of them.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
A performance of 8.34 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Oliver Abildgaard and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Sampdoria's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Sampdoria has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Salvatore Esposito and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Michael Fosu commits to Sampdoria for another 3 years.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Peter Vindahl
“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.
Match17 Oct 2026
0‑2 to Avellino, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Sampdoria training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Liam Henderson 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
Leonardo Rodella is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Sampdoria training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Salvatore Esposito 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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 230% of everything Sampdoria earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The terraces5 Oct 2026
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Karim Diop, and the manager let it.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Ninety minutes of Tjaš Begić at his very best
Marked 8.01. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Sampdoria.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Oliver Abildgaard 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Karim Diop wants out of the dugout
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Sampdoria will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Match3 Oct 2026
A 1‑1 draw with Frosinone leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Sep 2026
500 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
Squad21 Sep 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sasha Cernic and Sampdoria agree another 3 years.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rodrigo Linares, and the manager let it.
Match19 Sep 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Nicholas Pierini’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Sampdoria.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Oliver Abildgaard and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Francesco Conti 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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Marked 7.68 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Sampdoria had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Carlo Russo kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match5 Sep 2026
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Sampdoria scored in the 95th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Lorenzo Insigne, 35, rolls back the years — 8.43
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.43 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 11 signed and 4 gone
That is the business done at Sampdoria 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Salvatore Esposito 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Leonardo Rodella is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 17 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
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.
Match5 Sep 2026
A 2‑1 win over Empoli, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Sampdoria
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Filippo Delli Carri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Giorgio Graziani commits to Sampdoria for another 3 years.