It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Racing Ferrol can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing Ferrol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sergi Canós was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout23 Apr 2029
Sergi Canós 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Antonio Méndez after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.90 for the rest of it.
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Player ratings16 Apr 2029
Enzo López was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.44. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Sergi Canós 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.
David Laudano 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sergi Canós was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Racing Ferrol, another week without a signature from Nicolás Goitea.
“I watch every Racing Ferrol game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Las Palmas runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Nazareno Petrecca has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Squad2 Apr 2029
6 new faces, and Racing Ferrol are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sergi Canós was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Sergi Canós. 2‑1 against Cultural Leonesa, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing Ferrol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 14 combined actions and a mark of 7.01, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sergi Canós was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Antonio Méndez on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Santiago Paz has his answer from Racing Ferrol; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
In brief
The dugoutEdgar Pujol has become a man the manager trusts
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sergi Canós was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Antón Escobar. 1‑0 against Ourense CF, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Chiqui 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.
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
Player ratingsA defender's afternoon for Álvaro Ramón
David Laudano and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Feb 2029
Words at Racing Ferrol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergi Canós 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Antonio Méndez after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Racing Ferrol had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Getafe, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Valencia have kept their man, and Racing Ferrol go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
This is not rotation. Fabio has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Racing Ferrol is pretending otherwise.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Sergi Canós 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.
Álvaro Ramón 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.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Racing Ferrol will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Racing Ferrol, another week without a signature from Nicolás Goitea.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“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 Racing Ferrol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Racing Ferrol offered $1.9M; Real Sociedad 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 offer went to Eldense 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 Antón Escobar has come up in conversations Racing Ferrol were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Real Sociedad is saying, and nobody at Racing Ferrol is enjoying the guessing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sergi Canós was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Racing Ferrol can pretend not to have heard.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Tomás Almada had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
$3.0M was the most the club would pay and Alavés were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.97 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Racing Ferrol have gone to Real Sociedad 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Racing Ferrol have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
In brief
Transfer targetsThe paperwork begins on Diego Porcel
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Getafe is saying, and nobody at Racing Ferrol is enjoying the guessing.
The offer went to Alavés 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Federico Otero has just signed for Racing Ferrol, and for once the answer mattered.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Antón Escobar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Racing Ferrol can pretend not to have heard.
$320.0K on the table at Albacete. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Words at Racing Ferrol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergi Canós 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.
Tomás Almada 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.
Racing Ferrol have made the call to Ceuta. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Racing Ferrol had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
“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 Racing Ferrol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tomás Almada will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Racing Ferrol the goodbyes have quietly begun.
This is not rotation. Pascu has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Racing Ferrol is pretending otherwise.
Squad1 Jan 2029
Words at Racing Ferrol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergi Canós 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Racing Ferrol can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing Ferrol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A 1‑0 win over Osasuna Promesas, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
A performance of 8.26 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad25 Dec 2028
Antón Escobar 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Antonio Méndez on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Nobody at Racing Ferrol 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Racing Ferrol can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Racing Ferrol have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
This is not rotation. Fabio has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Racing Ferrol is pretending otherwise.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Sergi Canós 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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Joe Riley has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Racing Ferrol have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Álvaro Ramón 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ángel Almada was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Racing Ferrol told Sergi Canós something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout11 Dec 2028
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 Antonio Méndez left the room before anybody could ask which.
Nobody at Racing Ferrol 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Racing Ferrol, another week without a signature from Ángel Almada.
The words a physio says slowly. 14 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Renzo Conechny provided it, and the 8.81 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sergi Canós was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Renzo Conechny had Racing Ferrol level again within 3 minutes, and Real Avilés never got to play with a lead at all.
22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Racing Ferrol lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
This is not rotation. Fabio has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Racing Ferrol is pretending otherwise.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Words at Racing Ferrol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergi Canós 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.
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 Edgar Pujol is on it.
Abdula Bagamaev has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
38 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Racing Ferrol lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Racing Ferrol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
This is not rotation. Pascu has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Racing Ferrol is pretending otherwise.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Words at Racing Ferrol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergi Canós 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Renzo Conechny. 2‑0 against Ourense CF, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Sergi Canós 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Sergi Canós. 2‑1 against Unionistas, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Tomás Almada 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Racing Ferrol have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Rafa Fernández has just signed for Racing Ferrol, and for once the answer mattered.
Álvaro Ramón 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ángel Almada was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.82 on the card, and the Racing Ferrol support went home talking about one name.
The dugout23 Oct 2028
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Antonio Méndez, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Racing Ferrol have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad16 Oct 2028
Sergi Canós 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.
Tomás Almada 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.
Nobody at Racing Ferrol 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.
Edgar Pujol has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Racing Ferrol, another week without a signature from Mansour Sy.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Racing Ferrol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
This is not rotation. Pascu has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Racing Ferrol is pretending otherwise.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Sergi Canós 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Racing Ferrol has been clear about where Fabio stands, which is more than many ever get.
Something was said to Edgar Pujol and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing Ferrol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at Racing Ferrol 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.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 89th, and Celta Fortuna spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Miquel Parera and Racing Ferrol agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.77, and 2 involvements.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Antón Escobar. 2‑1 against Celta Fortuna, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Antón Escobar 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.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Sergi Canós is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Antonio Méndez on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Racing Ferrol, another week without a signature from Ángel Almada.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sergi Canós was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Tomás Almada 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.
“I did not go to Pafos to sit and watch. I want to come back to Racing Ferrol and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
The dugout25 Sep 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Antonio Méndez to a room that had heard them before.
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.
“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 Racing Ferrol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Words at Racing Ferrol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergi Canós 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.
Álvaro Ramón 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.
“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 dugout18 Sep 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Joaquín's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Antonio Méndez after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Arenas Club defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Nobody at Racing Ferrol 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Racing Ferrol can pretend not to have heard.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Celta is saying, and nobody at Racing Ferrol is enjoying the guessing.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Racing Ferrol is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Luca Nesi has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Racing Ferrol have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Betis have kept their man, and Racing Ferrol go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Antón Escobar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Getafe is saying, and nobody at Racing Ferrol is enjoying the guessing.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Racing Ferrol can pretend not to have heard.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.63 for the rest of it.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 17 arrived, 7 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
It finished 3‑2, and it was Sergi Canós’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Racing Ferrol.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words at Racing Ferrol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergi Canós 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Barakaldo waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Racing Ferrol is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Racing Ferrol can pretend not to have heard.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Talavera have kept their man, and Racing Ferrol go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Words at Racing Ferrol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergi Canós 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing Ferrol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A loan enquiry to Racing Santander: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Racing Ferrol have made the call to Real Sociedad. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Racing Ferrol know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The offer went to Osasuna 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Osasuna is saying, and nobody at Racing Ferrol is enjoying the guessing.
$1.5M was the most the club would pay and Sanluqueño were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Add another name to the list: Pafos have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Cristobal Chadwick. The answer from Racing Ferrol has not changed — yet.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Sergi Canós 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing Ferrol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
$10.4M was the most the club would pay and Osasuna were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Renzo Conechny has, at Racing Ferrol, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Racing Ferrol had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Celta, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
“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 Racing Ferrol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Aug 2028
Sergi Canós 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Deportivo La Coruña have kept their man, and Racing Ferrol go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Santiago Paz has his answer from Racing Ferrol; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
$1.9M on the table at Osasuna. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Álex Zalaya will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Racing Ferrol the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Castellón have kept their man, and Racing Ferrol go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words at Racing Ferrol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergi Canós 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Racing Ferrol are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Ander Gorostidi 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.
Nobody at Racing Ferrol 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.
Racing Ferrol have gone to Osasuna 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.
$2.0M was the most the club would pay and Real Sociedad were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad3 Jul 2028
Sergi Canós 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Deportivo La Coruña have kept their man, and Racing Ferrol go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Nicolás Varela 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Racing Ferrol can pretend not to have heard.
The offer went to Real Sociedad 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 offer went to Osasuna 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Racing Ferrol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
$33.0K was the most the club would pay and Talavera were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words at Racing Ferrol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergi Canós 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.
Álvaro Ramón 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.
Racing Ferrol offered $11.0M; Villarreal 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.
Racing Ferrol have gone to Arenteiro 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.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at Racing Ferrol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergi Canós 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.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Racing Ferrol, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Racing Ferrol are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Francisco Robinson has just signed for Racing Ferrol, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Sergi Canós 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Betis have kept their man, and Racing Ferrol go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Racing Ferrol, another week without a signature from Edgar Pujol.
Blas Cáceres 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 last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 45 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sergi Canós was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Antonio Méndez after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody at Racing Ferrol 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.
7.64, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sergio Busquets was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Álvaro Ramón 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.
Marked 8.03 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
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.
“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 Racing Ferrol, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.87 at 40, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Racing Ferrol have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
This is not rotation. Pascu has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Racing Ferrol is pretending otherwise.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words at Racing Ferrol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergi Canós 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing Ferrol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
1‑4 against Real Sociedad B, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Sergi Canós 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.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mauricio Espíndola and Racing Ferrol agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 6.57, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Racing Ferrol have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
Blas Cáceres 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.
This is not rotation. Pascu has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Racing Ferrol is pretending otherwise.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Words at Racing Ferrol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergio Busquets 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing Ferrol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at Racing Ferrol 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.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Real Sociedad B in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Miquel Parera signs something — a contract at Racing Ferrol or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Nazareno Petrecca may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Two goals and a mark of 8.55 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
This is not rotation. Álvaro Giménez has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Racing Ferrol is pretending otherwise.
Squad13 Mar 2028
Sergi Canós 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.
Álvaro Ramón 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.
He is 21 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Enzo López. 2‑0 against Guadalajara, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Racing Ferrol pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
“I watch every Racing Ferrol game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Elche runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Racing Ferrol can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings21 Feb 2028
Sydney Osazuwa, 20, plays like he has been here for years — 7.64
A mark of 7.64 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Racing Ferrol has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Sergi Canós 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Sydney Osazuwa 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.
Squad21 Feb 2028
7 new faces, and Racing Ferrol are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Nobody at Racing Ferrol 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.
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.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Racing Ferrol know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Boardroom14 Feb 2028
Nobody left the Racing Ferrol dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Racing Ferrol, another week without a signature from Nicolás Goitea.
Blas Cáceres 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 dugout14 Feb 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Miquel Parera's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Racing Ferrol had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Valladolid, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
The chase for Sergi Canós ended with $1.6M changing hands and Valencia out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Racing Ferrol close the window on a squad of their own making
6 in and 1 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.
6 goals in one match, Sergi Canós on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Racing Ferrol and Lugo.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Words at Racing Ferrol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergio Busquets 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.
Sergi Canós was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $1.6M. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
“I watch every Racing Ferrol game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Gimnàstic runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Valencia asked and VfB Stuttgart said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Valencia can pretend not to have heard.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 0 arrived, 8 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
“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 Valencia hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Stole Dimitrievski and Valencia agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Lucas Torreira 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Newcastle United have kept their man, and Valencia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Valencia can pretend not to have heard.
Valencia have gone to Sevilla 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.
Barcelona paid $12.8M and Valencia took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
$9.4M was the most the club would pay and Rayo Vallecano were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Lucas Torreira wants continental football; whether Valencia can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Stole Dimitrievski 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
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Lucas Torreira
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Valencia have kept their man, and Racing Ferrol go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Tiago Caballero 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Racing Ferrol has been clear about where Nicolás Varela stands, which is more than many ever get.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ander Gorostidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Saúl is on it.