Marked for Youri Mertens
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.17, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Mouscron
Thomas Castagne and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match26 Sep 2026
It had gone 6 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Mouscron
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fernando Lima was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces28 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Michy Boyata 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Westerlo made Mouscron work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Michy Chadli commits to Mouscron for another 3 years.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Thomas Doku: “That is the standard”
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑0, already talking about the next one.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 12 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market14 Sep 2026
The name of Michy Boyata has come up in conversations Mouscron were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market14 Sep 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 The request is on a desk at Mouscron, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match12 Sep 2026
No end in sight to Mouscron's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Mouscron has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Thomas Castagne 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Youri Mertens 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Gilles Lentz gets it from the manager
“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.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match26 Aug 2026
The small margins put Mouscron out
Out, 1‑4 to Club Brugge, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market31 Aug 2026
Anderlecht come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Mouscron did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad31 Aug 2026
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
A cup hiding at Club Brugge leaves Mouscron explaining themselves
1-4, and long before the end the away end had switched from encouragement to something considerably more pointed. Nobody rings a phone-in about losing narrowly.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Mouscron
Thomas Castagne and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Mouscron offered $190.0K; Standard Liege 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Mouscron
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Youri Mertens was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.06, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market17 Aug 2026
Standard Liege paid $2.9M and Mouscron took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The offer went to Anderlecht 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.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $200.0K — a club that wants Boli Bolingoli enough to be asked twice.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Mouscron offered $950.0K; KAA Gent 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Mouscron cannot stop winning
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Thomas Castagne 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.
Match15 Aug 2026
Three points for Mouscron, 3‑1 the final word against Lokeren in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Mouscron asked and Zulte Waregem said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market10 Aug 2026
Twente paid $16.1M and Mouscron took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Market10 Aug 2026
Anderlecht come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Mouscron did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Mouscron have gone to KAA Gent with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Thomas Castagne and Mouscron agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $1.0M — a club that wants Mohammed El Âdfaoui enough to be asked twice.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Mouscron
Thomas Castagne and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
$180.0K 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.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Youri Mertens 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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market3 Aug 2026
OGC Nice come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Mouscron did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market3 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Mouscron
Thomas Castagne 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Youri Mertens. 3‑1 against Zulte Waregem, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The terraces3 Aug 2026
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.43, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Mouscron training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Laurent Kompany 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.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.08, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.00, and no argument anywhere in the ground.