“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 The request is on a desk at AS Etat Major, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Moussa Mbaiguedem will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AS Etat Major 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 AS Etat Major this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AS Etat Major know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. AS Etat Major have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The deal with Renaissance is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Add another name to the list: Galactik have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Adam Ngaradoumbe. The answer from AS Etat Major has not changed — yet.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.00, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Marius Hissein and AS Etat Major agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
AS Etat Major asked and Foullah Edifice said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AS Etat Major know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around AS Etat Major people have started saying his name in the past tense.
18 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AS Etat Major lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A season average of 7.20 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. AS Etat Major know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Everything agreed with Renaissance, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
AS Etat Major asked and US Moursal said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Adam Abakar is on it.
The words a physio says slowly. 25 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.
Ahmat Mbainaissem 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at AS Etat Major, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AS Etat Major know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Hassan Oumar did not need any: 7.76, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.20, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Djibrine Doungous after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Ahmat Mbainaissem 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.
In brief
The dugoutAdam Abakar has become a man the manager trusts
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Moussa Haroun did not need any: 7.95, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.00, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
8 goals in one match, Adam Abakar on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of AS Etat Major and Galactik.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Moussa Haroun 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 AS Etat Major this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at AS Etat Major 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.
Position 5 on 39 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at AS Etat Major, another week without a signature from Ahmat Mbainaissem.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Etat Major this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
AS Etat Major have made the call to Renaissance. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Nobody at AS Etat Major 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.
Michael Acquaye 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Adam Ngaradoumbe 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.
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.99 on the card, and the AS Etat Major support went home talking about one name.
The dugout17 Dec 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Djibrine Doungous kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Michael Acquaye trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Ahmat Mbainaissem’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and AS Etat Major needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AS Etat Major know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nobody at AS Etat Major 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.
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Michael Acquaye’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad10 Dec 2029
Ban served, and Moussa Haroun returns to the reckoning
Missing football is its own punishment and it has now been paid in full. AS Etat Major get a player back, and whoever has been deputising gets the conversation nobody enjoys.
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
“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.
The dugout3 Dec 2029
Moussa Haroun is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout3 Dec 2029
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Djibrine Doungous was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the AS Etat Major dressing room was either.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Foullah Edifice? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. AS Etat Major know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Moussa Oumar is on it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around AS Etat Major people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Boardroom3 Sep 2029
AS Etat Major close the window on a squad of their own making
7 in and 16 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
The deal with Aiglons is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around AS Etat Major they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
AS Etat Major asked and Galactik 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 deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. AS Etat Major will try again when the window opens; Galactik may not be selling by then.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. a squad player has moved up it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and AS Algoy waiting with a shirt. Nobody at AS Etat Major is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
A season average of 7.03 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. AS Etat Major know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
“The easiest signature of my career.” a squad player and AS Etat Major agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The words a physio says slowly. 24 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.
“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 AS Etat Major, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AS Etat Major this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.