Marked for Matteo Gilli
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Jun 2028
Fallou Cham hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Hellas Verona can pretend not to have heard.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Fallou Cham: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Hellas Verona have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market5 Jun 2028
The offer from Bra for Fallou Cham 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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Francesco Acerbi 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.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Matteo Gilli 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
Tommaso Palumbo has until the next board meeting
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Hellas Verona can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
Squad6 Mar 2028
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Market6 Mar 2028
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Hellas Verona they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad6 Mar 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lorenzo Montipò and Hellas Verona agree another 3 years.
Squad6 Mar 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match4 Mar 2028
Modena made Hellas Verona work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
A performance of 9.03 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.02, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings6 Mar 2028
A performance of 8.59 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match21 Jun 2027
Every point is an argument now for Hellas Verona
Position 19 and 27 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Squad21 Jun 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Hellas Verona may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market21 Jun 2027
Daniel Mosquera has left for Sassuolo in a $5.2M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad21 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Hellas Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Martin Frese 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.
Market21 Jun 2027
The Amin Sarr story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Amin Sarr signs something — a contract at Hellas Verona or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market14 Jun 2027
The unthinkable, invoiced: Matteo Gilli sold
Hellas Verona arrived with $1.9M 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.
Market14 Jun 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Arezzo
Camillo Tavernelli 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.
Market14 Jun 2027
Luca Trombini has left for Modena in a $810.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad14 Jun 2027
90 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market14 Jun 2027
Milo Da Rugna has left for Sorrento in a $29.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Jun 2027
Fiorentina pay $10.5M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Hellas Verona may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market14 Jun 2027
The chase for Jonathan Spedalieri ended with $2.5M changing hands and Renate out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Market14 Jun 2027
The paperwork is done: Matteo Gilli joins from Arezzo in a deal worth $1.9M. Now comes the harder part.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Ali Al Musrati 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 Jun 2027
36 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Boardroom14 Jun 2027
13 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
Market14 Jun 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Hellas Verona will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Eldin Lolić, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad24 May 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arezzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mattia Viviani, and the manager let it.
Market24 May 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Matteo Gilli’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad26 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arezzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch26 Apr 2027
30 appearances away from home and 13 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Squad26 Apr 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Arezzo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market26 Apr 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Matteo Gilli’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Loan watch26 Apr 2027
32 appearances at Casertana and the goals keep coming. Arezzo are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Squad26 Apr 2027
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad29 Mar 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Arezzo
Gianluca Di Chiara 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.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Defensive actions: 22, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.29, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match27 Mar 2027
Arezzo get the job done against Ascoli
A 1‑0 win over Ascoli, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
A performance of 8.16 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad29 Mar 2027
José Perales left out for the big one
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; José Perales will call it something else in private.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Alessandro Arena
5 goals and a season average of 7.31 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 16 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arezzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Mar 2027
The medical room confirms 15 days on the sidelines for Mattia Viviani, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Defensive actions: 20, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad22 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alessandro Renzi, and the manager let it.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
139% of the income goes out in wages at Arezzo
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Luca Chierico
6 goals and a season average of 7.29 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Loan watch22 Mar 2027
25 appearances at Casertana and the goals keep coming. Arezzo are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Mar 2027
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Gianluca Di Chiara and Arezzo agree another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arezzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match6 Mar 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Luca Chierico. 3‑1 against Vis Pesaro, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.14, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.87, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Marked 8.61 — 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.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Marked 8.55 — 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Elias Pihlström, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Mar 2027
José Perales hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Arezzo can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 25 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Defensive actions: 25, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Arezzo
Camillo Tavernelli 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.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 21 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings1 Mar 2027
Marked 8.92 — 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.
Match27 Feb 2027
A 1‑0 win over Sambenedettese, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad1 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Mattia Viviani
“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.
Loan watch1 Mar 2027
“I did not go to Vis Pesaro to sit and watch. I want to come back to Arezzo and fight for my place.” 15 appearances in 26 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Defensive actions: 30. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match20 Feb 2027
No end in sight to Arezzo's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Arezzo has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad22 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arezzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
Wages eat 160% of everything Arezzo earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad22 Feb 2027
José Perales 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 ratings22 Feb 2027
Defensive actions: 17, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.82 on the card, and the Arezzo support went home talking about one name.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Alessandro Arena
3 goals and a season average of 7.20 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Arezzo
Alessandro Renzi 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.
Boardroom25 Jan 2027
Wages eat 196% of everything Arezzo earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Match23 Jan 2027
A bad afternoon for Arezzo against Forli
0‑1 to Forli, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad25 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Emiliano Pattarello, and the manager let it.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Alessandro Renzi asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A season average of 7.22 with 3 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Shots: 11. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Marked 5.79, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market11 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Match9 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Arezzo's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Arezzo has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad11 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Arezzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match9 Jan 2027
Whatever happens, Arezzo do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A season average of 7.31 with 7 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Marked 7.92 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Arezzo had the best player on the pitch.
Market11 Jan 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Arezzo will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Defensive actions: 62. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad4 Jan 2027
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Arezzo will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Arezzo
Gianluca Di Chiara 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.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
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.
Market4 Jan 2027
The name of Fabio Tito has come up in conversations Arezzo were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Loan watch4 Jan 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Arezzo, and 10 appearances in 18 say he has earned the hearing.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Defensive actions: 16. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Samuele Righetti, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match4 Nov 2026
Arezzo out of the cup
Virtus Entella ended it 1‑1. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Giacomo Venturi: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Arezzo
Camillo Tavernelli 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.
Match7 Nov 2026
It finished 3‑1, and it was Camillo Tavernelli’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Arezzo.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
A performance of 9.21 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.01, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.59, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad9 Nov 2026
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Alexis Mirbach knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.