There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.88 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
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.
The offer from Petrojet for Mohamed Ali Saleh Ziad 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 fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. ENPPI moved on, Ahmed Khaled reports back to Zamalek, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Zamalek training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Bezerra 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.
Khama Erasmus 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 music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Ali Fathy left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
The dugoutMohamed Sobhi dropped after a run of poor form
Zamalek arrived with $4.2M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Khama Erasmus has gone, the accounts have $4.2M 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.
Ramahlwe Kekana 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.
A 3‑2 win over Kaizer Chiefs, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Kaizer Chiefs spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
In brief
SquadWords at Free State Stars training over how hard people work
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Dean Phiri
El Dakhleya will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Zamalek were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A brace, and Chico Banza takes the afternoon — 9.03
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Chico Banza provided it, and the 9.03 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” USM Khenchela had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The offer from JS Kabylie for Khama Erasmus 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.
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Zamalek have paid $4.2M for Khama Erasmus, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Zamalek have paid $2.7M for Luis Ingolotti, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.42 at 41, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Mahmoud El Wensh 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 easiest signature of my career.” Luther Erasmus and Free State Stars agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Off the academy pitches and onto a senior team sheet at 19. The debut is the easy part; the second appearance is the one every young player has to earn.
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 Free State Stars have no good answer.
In brief
The terracesThe Khama Erasmus rumours reach the terraces
The clubs have shaken hands with Free State Stars; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The offer went to Atlético Tucumán this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $39.8K — a club that wants Julius Ikechukwu enough to be asked twice.
Juan Bezerra 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 offer went to Aswan this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The name of Ahmed Jafeli has come up in conversations Zamalek were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Erick Ngcobo and Free State Stars agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Erick Ngcobo 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.
3 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khama Erasmus 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Orlando Pirates have kept their man, and Free State Stars go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Evidence Grobler has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Free State Stars this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dean Phiri 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.
A loan enquiry to Orlando Pirates: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
A loan enquiry to SuperSport United: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Free State Stars has been clear about where Khama Mothiba stands, which is more than many ever get.