17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Twente lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The offer from Cambuur for Liam van Nistelrooij 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.
Player ratings15 Jan 2029
Eser Gürbüz, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.18
A mark of 8.18 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Twente have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Ramiz Zerrouki 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.
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Twente lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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.
The name of Liam van Nistelrooij has come up in conversations Twente were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Twente asked and Groningen said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Ramiz Zerrouki 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Twente training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 35 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 The request is on a desk at Twente, and it is not being withdrawn.
Successful dribbles: 21. 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.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Younes Taha 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.
Twente have gone to Eibar 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.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
The chase for David van der Werff ended with $2.6M changing hands and Groningen out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
The offer went to Volendam 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Twente this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Younes Taha 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Twente will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The offer from Lierse for Gijs Besselink 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.
Ramiz Zerrouki 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.
Twente offered $210.0K; PSV 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.
The phone has started ringing about Tim Haksteeg again, and this time the name on the line is Fleetwood Town. Twente are listening politely and promising nothing.