Marked for Antônio Soares
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
“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 The request is on a desk at Al Ahli, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market31 Aug 2026
Al Ahli say no — this time
The offer from Krasnodar for Sergio Chiari 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.
Market31 Aug 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Al Ahli have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market31 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Antônio Soares again, and this time the name on the line is Crvena Zvezda. Al Ahli are listening politely and promising nothing.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al Wahda have kept their man, and Al Ahli go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Zob Ahan keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Emirates Club had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market10 Aug 2026
Al Ahli spend $3.2M to raise the standard
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $3.2M has been paid because Mohammed El Hankouri is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
Market10 Aug 2026
Al Ahli say no — this time
The offer from Al Fujairah for Majed Khalfan 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Sergio Chiari wants to know where this is going
“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 Al Ahli hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Antônio Soares commits to Al Ahli for another 5 years.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
No deal for Ivo Mammini at that price
Al Ahli offered $830.0K; Gimnasia La Plata 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Al Ahli
Khalid Al Junaibi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces10 Aug 2026
Al Ahli spend $3.2M on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $3.2M for Mohammed El Hankouri, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Al Ahli
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ismail Hussain was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
$2.6M on the table at Standard Liege. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
$1.0M on the table at Sharjah. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Market3 Aug 2026
Antônio Soares wants to know where this is going
“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 Al Ahli hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
$650.0K on the table at Gimnasia La Plata. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Al Ahli
Hamad Al Hammadi 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Majed Khalfan again, and this time the name on the line is Al Fujairah. Al Ahli are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Khalid Al Junaibi 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Ibrahim Abdulrahman commits to Al Ahli for another 1 years.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
Antônio Soares 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 Al Ahli, and both men came out saying it was fine.