The words a physio says slowly. 135 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 64 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sint-Truiden have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Sint-Truiden have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The offer from Waasland-Beveren for Michy Courtois 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.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Aiham Ousou 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 89 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Sint-Truiden have lost him in all but the paperwork.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
7.55, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Aiham Ousou 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 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.
Sint-Truiden asked and Paris FC 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
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Leo Kokubo
$1.3M on the table at KV Kortrijk. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aiham Ousou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sint-Truiden this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Sint-Truiden have no good answer.
Where he used to play does most of his talking for him at Sint-Truiden. The room defers to it, the kids study it, and the only thing that can puncture it is a bad month.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” KAA Gent had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The offer from ADO Den Haag for Eden Witsel 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.
$1.4M was the most the club would pay and KV Kortrijk 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Michy Courtois will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sint-Truiden the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sint-Truiden 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 Shogo Taniguchi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Signed today, seen by nobody for years, and one of them may one day be the reason the club exists. That is the whole of the argument for an academy, and it is a good one.
16 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sint-Truiden lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Sint-Truiden, and it is not being withdrawn.
Add another name to the list: Anderlecht have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Jalal Abdullai. The answer from Sint-Truiden has not changed — yet.
Abdoulaye Sissako 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 Jun 2028
Aiham Ousou 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Thorgan Mertens is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
23 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sint-Truiden lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sint-Truiden can pretend not to have heard.
Andrés Ferrari 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at Sint-Truiden training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aiham Ousou 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.
Sint-Truiden asked and Club Brugge said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lucas Beerten trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Abdoulaye Sissako signs something — a contract at Sint-Truiden or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
32 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sint-Truiden lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The offer from Racing Genk for Jalal Abdullai 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.
Sint-Truiden had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Club Brugge, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Aiham Ousou 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Anderlecht have kept their man, and Sint-Truiden go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at Sint-Truiden training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Shogo Taniguchi 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sint-Truiden, and both men came out saying it was fine.
40 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sint-Truiden lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Sint-Truiden have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sint-Truiden is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Everything agreed with Club Brugge, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aiham Ousou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Lokeren will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Derrick Kyere has pre-agreed a move to Sint-Truiden, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Sint-Truiden asked and Club Brugge 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 words a physio says slowly. 49 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.
Shogo Taniguchi 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.
33 games, 7 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Sint-Truiden now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
64 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sint-Truiden lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sint-Truiden this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 May 2028
Aiham Ousou 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Alessandro Ciranni and Sint-Truiden agree another 3 years.
7 goals in 33 games at Angers SCO — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Sint-Truiden updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The words a physio says slowly. 71 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sint-Truiden is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Shogo Taniguchi 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.
Squad8 May 2028
Aiham Ousou 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.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Sint-Truiden would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
7 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Sint-Truiden could ask drops and the wages Laurent Jans can ask rise.
81 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sint-Truiden lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Shogo Taniguchi 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.
Squad1 May 2028
Ryotaro Ito 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.
89 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sint-Truiden lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sint-Truiden have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Leo Kokubo 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ryotaro Ito was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The words a physio says slowly. 96 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sint-Truiden this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Apr 2028
Aiham Ousou 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.
103 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Sint-Truiden lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sint-Truiden they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ryotaro Ito was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Diego Latorre 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 words a physio says slowly. 127 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.
Leo Kokubo 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ryotaro Ito was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Sint-Truiden know it.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sint-Truiden, and both men came out saying it was fine.
134 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Sint-Truiden lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 32 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sint-Truiden have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Michy Courtois will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sint-Truiden the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sint-Truiden 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 Ryotaro Ito was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The deal that would have taken Alouis Diriken to KAA Gent has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Sint-Truiden with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sint-Truiden they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Sint-Truiden training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aiham Ousou 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ryotaro Ito. 2‑1 against Mouscron, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Jalal Abdullai 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.
Laurent Jans 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.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Shogo Taniguchi will call it something else in private.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Sint-Truiden have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Standard Liege paid $7.9M and Sint-Truiden took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The offer from OH Leuven for Alouis Diriken 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.
Leo Kokubo 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ryotaro Ito was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Sint-Truiden asked and Lokeren said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Successful dribbles: 30. 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.
The offer from KV Kortrijk for Michaël Heylen 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sint-Truiden this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Per van Loon has just signed for Sint-Truiden, and for once the answer mattered.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aiham Ousou was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Sint-Truiden asked and Waasland-Beveren said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sint-Truiden this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Sint-Truiden training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aiham Ousou 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Mathias Delorge 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.
Something was said to Mathias Delorge and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Eden Lukaku after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
“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 Sint-Truiden will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Shogo Taniguchi 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Taiga Hata 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.
Sint-Truiden asked and Al Ahly said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 11 actions, 7.07, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. KV Oostende scored in the 93th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
“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 KV Oostende, and it is not being withdrawn.
KV Oostende and KV Mechelen have settled on $1.6M. 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” KV Oostende have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dedryck Lukaku was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Sint-Truiden pay $260.0K, 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.
6 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Westerlo were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
KV Oostende asked and OH Leuven said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Jan Virgili 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Sint-Truiden have done the hard part with KAA Gent, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The fee is $260.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. KV Oostende drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Shogo Taniguchi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Taiga Hata 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Josué Kongolo is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Eden Onana 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at KV Oostende training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dedryck Lukaku 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.
Everybody at KV Oostende saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 35 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Position 14 and 15 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The clubs have shaken hands with KV Oostende; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The offer from Anderlecht for Ryan Merlen 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sint-Truiden this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Taiga Hata 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” KV Oostende have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Josué Kongolo is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at KV Oostende training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dedryck Lukaku 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
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 one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Michy Courtois has his answer from KV Oostende; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Dedryck Lukaku 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adnan De Bruyne was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Everybody at KV Oostende saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 38 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Nobody at KV Oostende 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Radja Kompany signs something — a contract at KV Oostende or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.