Daniel Boloca

Defensive Midfielder - Sassuolo
7 May 2029
Monday
Process
141 Edition

The Sassuolo Herald

9 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Gioele Zacchi

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.

Market

Daniel Boloca asks to leave Sassuolo

“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.

Match

No end in sight to Sassuolo's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Sassuolo has to find a result from somewhere.

Match

A bad afternoon for Sassuolo against Lecce

2-3 to Lecce, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Loan watch

Luca Moro keeps scoring at Bologna

28 appearances away from home and 15 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

Loan watch

Paolo Fabiano Pagliusi has seen enough of Modena

“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 Sassuolo, and 0 appearances in 42 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Nicholas Pierini

“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.

Squad

Kristian Thorstvedt is carrying Sassuolo

2 goals and a season average of 7.26. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Loan watch

Justin Kumi keeps scoring at FC Metz

22 appearances away from home and 7 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

In brief

Back issues
137 Edition

The Sassuolo Herald

12 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Gioele Zacchi

There were 10 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.

Squad

Andrea Pinamonti takes the match ball home

3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

Market

Daniel Boloca asks to leave Sassuolo

“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.

Match

Sassuolo come up short against AS Roma

AS Roma left with the points after a 4-5 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Luca D'Andrea signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Luca D'Andrea commits to Sassuolo for another 5 years.

Loan watch

Luca Moro keeps scoring at Bologna

25 appearances away from home and 12 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

Squad

Edoardo Pieragnolo 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.

Loan watch

Paolo Fabiano Pagliusi has seen enough of Modena

“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 Sassuolo, and 0 appearances in 38 say he has earned the hearing.

Loan watch

Justin Kumi keeps scoring at FC Metz

22 appearances away from home and 7 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

In brief

133 Edition

The Sassuolo Herald

12 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Gioele Zacchi keeps Sassuolo in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 13 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Market

Daniel Boloca asks to leave Sassuolo

“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.

Market

Sassuolo turn down Pisa for Nicholas Pierini

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Match

Inter take the points off Sassuolo

Beaten 1-2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Patrick Nuamah is carrying Sassuolo

6 goals and a season average of 7.24. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

Ivan Da Silva stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Ivan Da Silva and Sassuolo agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Loan watch

Paolo Fabiano Pagliusi has seen enough of Modena

“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 Sassuolo, and 0 appearances in 34 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

Antonio Sanabria 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.

Loan watch

Justin Kumi keeps scoring at FC Metz

22 appearances away from home and 7 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.

In brief

128 Edition

The Sassuolo Herald

8 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

Sassuolo put Alfonso Gamberini on notice

The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.

Market

Cristian Volpato moves on

AS Roma pay $22.9M, 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.

Market

Sassuolo turn down Como for Ismaël Koné

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Daniel Boloca 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 Sassuolo can pretend not to have heard.

Match

5 matches without a win for Sassuolo

The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Sassuolo are no longer polite ones.

Market

Luca Lipani attracts admirers

The name of Luca Lipani has come up in conversations Sassuolo were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Armand Laurienté

“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 watch

Paolo Fabiano Pagliusi has seen enough of Modena

“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 Sassuolo, and 0 appearances in 29 say he has earned the hearing.

Match

Sassuolo and AC Milan take a point apiece

It finished 1-1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

In brief

122 Edition

The Sassuolo Herald

27 Nov 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Gioele Zacchi keeps Sassuolo in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Market

Luca Lipani 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 Sassuolo can pretend not to have heard.

Match

Sassuolo see off Lecce

Three points for Sassuolo, 3-2 the final word against Lecce in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Antonio Sanabria

“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.

Squad

Jay Idzes is off the mark for Sassuolo

The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.

Market

The Domenico Berardi talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sassuolo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

Loan watch

6 goals on loan for Luca Moro

11 appearances at Bologna and the goals keep coming. Sassuolo are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

Squad

Daniel Boloca knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sassuolo, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Market

Sassuolo put Kevin Bruno up for sale

The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Kevin Bruno may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.

In brief

  • The terraces The press have found their man in Jay Idzes
  • The terraces The stand has a song for Jay Idzes
108 Edition

The Sassuolo Herald

21 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Daniel Boloca says Sassuolo went back on their word

“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.

Market

Pasquale Compagnone has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sassuolo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Market

Simone Cinquegrano 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 Sassuolo can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Mauro Messina is a Sassuolo player again

He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.

Market

Cristiano Esposito is a Sassuolo player again

He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.

Squad

Federico Sangiorgi out for 14 days

The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Federico Sangiorgi, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

In brief

106 Edition

The Sassuolo Herald

7 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Lorenzo Ignacchiti 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 Sassuolo can pretend not to have heard.

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at Sassuolo

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Squad

Giacomo Satalino says Sassuolo went back on their word

“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.

Squad

Daniel Boloca stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Daniel Boloca and Sassuolo agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Market

Kristian Thorstvedt linked with a move away

The name of Kristian Thorstvedt keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Sassuolo say nothing, which says plenty.

Squad

Lorenzo Ignacchiti knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sassuolo, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Boardroom

Sassuolo pull $20.2M back off the table

The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.

Market

The clock runs on Daniel Boloca's contract

36 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.

Market

Talks stall between Sassuolo and Alessandro Russo

“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.

In brief

  • Boardroom Sassuolo keep producing them
  • Squad The manager comes out for Sandro
81 Edition

The Sassuolo Herald

14 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Andrea Pinamonti is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.44 with 22 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

Remi Walter: 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.” Sassuolo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Match

Fiorentina take the points off Sassuolo

Beaten 2-3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Loan watch

Luca Moro has seen enough of Udinese

“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 Sassuolo, and 5 appearances in 24 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

Edoardo Iannoni stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Edoardo Iannoni and Sassuolo agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Antonio Sanabria

“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.

In brief

72 Edition

The Sassuolo Herald

13 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Stefano Turati asks to leave Sassuolo

“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.

Match

5 matches without a win for Sassuolo

The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Sassuolo are no longer polite ones.

Market

Paolo Fabiano Pagliusi has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sassuolo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Squad

Andrea Pinamonti is carrying Sassuolo

14 goals and a season average of 7.23. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Loan watch

Gioele Zacchi has seen enough of Heerenveen

“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 Sassuolo, and 1 appearances in 26 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Ismaël Koné

“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.

Match

Sassuolo share the spoils with Como

A 4-4 draw with Como leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

Squad

Stefano Turati lets one through his hands

A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.

Market

The Tarik Muharemović talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sassuolo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

65 Edition

The Sassuolo Herald

25 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

A hiding for Sassuolo

Beaten 1-5 by AS Roma, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.

Squad

Antonio Sanabria 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.

Boardroom

Inquest at Sassuolo

The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.

Loan watch

Gabriel Kulla has seen enough of Crotone

“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 Sassuolo, and 1 appearances in 18 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

5 past Stefano Turati

Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 2 saves does not settle it either way.

Squad

Cristian Volpato is off the mark for Sassuolo

The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.

Market

The Josh Doig talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sassuolo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

Squad

Daniel Boloca 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.

Market

Rareş Coman leaves for nothing

Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Rareş Coman leaves Sassuolo the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.

In brief

52 Edition

The Sassuolo Herald

26 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Sassuolo sell Michele Piccirillo for $170.0K

Michele Piccirillo has left for Gubbio in a $170.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Ismaël Koné

“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 watch

Gabriel Kulla wants to come home

“I did not go to Crotone to sit and watch. I want to come back to Sassuolo and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.

Market

The Domenico Berardi talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sassuolo know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

Market

Sassuolo put Sandro up for sale

The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Sandro may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.

Squad

Daniel Boloca knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sassuolo, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

51 Edition

The Sassuolo Herald

19 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Josh Doig 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 Sassuolo can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Grasshopper come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Sassuolo did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Daniel Boloca says Sassuolo went back on their word

“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.

Squad

Ismaël Koné out for 100 days

The medical room confirms 100 days on the sidelines for Ismaël Koné, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Market

Dijon expected to open talks for Flavio Russo

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Sassuolo will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

Market

Armand Laurienté linked with a move away

The name of Armand Laurienté keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Sassuolo say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief