The Al-Ettifaq Sentinel
Market21 Jun 2027
Al-Shoulla come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Al-Ettifaq did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Georginio Wijnaldum in a row with a teammate
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-Ettifaq this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Abdullah Al-Dossary is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Ondrej Duda 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Matija Gluščević signs on for more
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Matija Gluščević and Al-Ettifaq agree another 4 years.
Market21 Jun 2027
A long bet from Al-Ettifaq on Andre Acquah
He is 20, and nobody at Al-Ettifaq signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
In brief
- Market The shop window has Abdullah Madu in it
- Market The Madallah Al-Olayan talk will not go away
- Loan watch Decision time nears on Meshal Al-Alaeli