Marked for Moaz Ateya
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Jan 2028
A knee injury of the worst kind for James Adeniyi
129 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Police Union lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market17 Jan 2028
The offer from Zamalek for Silas Nwankwo 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.
The terraces17 Jan 2028
Abdulrahman Muniru has gone, the accounts have $210.0K in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
The dugout17 Jan 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Police Union may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets17 Jan 2028
Everything agreed with FC Midtjylland, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Defences have started doubling up on Suleiman Abdullahi
13 goals and a season average of 7.39 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad17 Jan 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Police Union this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings17 Jan 2028
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market17 Jan 2028
Ittihad paid $210.0K and Police Union took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad6 Sep 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout6 Sep 2027
Montader Madjed: 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.” Police Union have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market6 Sep 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 Police Union, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 12 signed and 4 gone
That is the business done at Police Union 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.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2027
The paperwork begins on Hamza Alaa
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Police Union have done the hard part with Al Ahly, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad6 Sep 2027
The step up is real for Moaz Ateya
At 22 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.
Squad6 Sep 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 Police Union this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Sep 2027
At 27 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2027
Police Union asked and BK Hacken said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Jul 2027
A fracture rules Mohamed Boujad out for 108 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Police Union will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market12 Jul 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 Police Union, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
The paperwork begins on Hassan Ali
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Police Union have done the hard part with El Masry, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Market12 Jul 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Police Union have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at FC Copenhagen is saying, and nobody at Police Union is enjoying the guessing.
Squad12 Jul 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 Police Union this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Montader Madjed was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Police Union asked and FC Midtjylland said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
Moaz Ateya 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Jun 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 Police Union, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Everything was agreed with IK Start and then the doctor spoke. Police Union have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Moaz Ateya is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad28 Jun 2027
James Adeniyi pulls a muscle — 14 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Suleiman Abdullahi 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Police Union training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Montader Madjed 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 targets28 Jun 2027
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.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
The manager makes an example of Ékené Awazie
“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 dugout28 Jun 2027
David Benjamin 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 Police Union, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout14 Jun 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Police Union may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Wadi Degla keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Market14 Jun 2027
The chase for Mahmoud El Shenawy ended with $200.0K changing hands and Zamalek out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Omar Fayed 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 2027
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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 targets14 Jun 2027
$2.0K was the most the club would pay and Ittihad were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Boardroom14 Jun 2027
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Mahmoud Tarek has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Police Union have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Police Union asked and FC Copenhagen said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Ekene Olisema 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Mohamed Boujad: 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.” Police Union have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Omar Fayed 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and James Adeniyi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ékené Awazie, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Amr Moussa 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 Police Union, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market26 Apr 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Police Union know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Aug 2026
9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market31 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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with Rapid Wien, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Suleiman Abdullahi 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 targets31 Aug 2026
No deal for Ahmed Abdin at that price
Police Union offered $67.0K; Wadi Degla 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and James Adeniyi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets31 Aug 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.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Suleiman Abdullahi, and the manager let it.