Daniel Boloca

Defensive Midfielder - Empoli
6 Dec 2026
Sunday
Process

Marked for Daniel Boloca

18 Edition

The Empoli Post

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

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

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

Squad

Words exchanged at Empoli

Filippo Bandinelli 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Empoli

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Boloca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Lorenzo Ignacchiti makes it 100

100 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.

Match

Empoli rescue it on 86 minutes

Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 86. Modena had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.

The dugout

Tyronne Ebuehi 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.

The dugout

Empoli keep their word to Abdelhamid Sabiri

Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.

Match

Honours even between Empoli and Modena

1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Cesare Martinelli was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Empoli dressing room was either.

In brief

Back issues
17 Edition

The Empoli Post

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A falling-out at Empoli

Daniel Boloca and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

Andrea Fulignati 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 ratings

Pietro Pellegri was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.57. 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.

Squad

Marco Curto 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.

Match

Late, late show earns Empoli a point

Minute 95, against Padova, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.

Match

Empoli and Padova take a point apiece

It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

Squad

Aarón Barquett signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Aarón Barquett and Empoli agree another 4 years.

The dugout

Filippo Bandinelli knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Filippo Bandinelli trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Cesare Martinelli chose the glass-half-full version of 2‑2; the supporters left with the other one.

In brief

16 Edition

The Empoli Post

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Andrea Ghion in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Empoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Filippo Bandinelli 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 dugout

No hiding place for Stiven Shpendi

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Stiven Shpendi, and the manager let it.

Match

A bad afternoon for Empoli against Reggiana

0‑1 to Reggiana, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Boardroom

Doors closed at Empoli

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

Player ratings

Joseph Ceesay beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

A promise honoured for Daniel Boloca

It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Empoli told Daniel Boloca something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.

The dugout

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 Cesare Martinelli to a room that had heard them before.

Squad

Stiven Shpendi: “I am not a substitute”

“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Empoli will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.

In brief

15 Edition

The Empoli Post

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Empoli march on in the cup

Trento are out and Empoli go through, 4‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.

Player ratings

Edoardo Zanaga, 18, steals the show — 8.77

Marked 8.77 at 18, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

Player ratings

Karim Zedadka runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Tempers go at Empoli

Filippo Bandinelli 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Empoli

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Daniel Boloca was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Andrea Ghion 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.

The terraces

Empoli supporters have found a favourite in Alessio Raballo

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Alessio Raballo 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.

Match

Spezia take the points off Empoli

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

A promise honoured at Empoli

Something was said to Tommaso Barbieri and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.

In brief

14 Edition

The Empoli Post

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

Darryl Bakola: 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.” Empoli have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Tempers go at Empoli

Tommaso Barbieri 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.

Squad

Daniel Boloca 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 dugout

No hiding place for Nicolas Haas

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nicolas Haas, and the manager let it.

Loan watch

Gabriele Guarino wants to come home

“I did not go to Parma to sit and watch. I want to come back to Empoli and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.

Squad

Daniel Boloca loses the armband

The captaincy has been taken off Daniel Boloca. Empoli will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.

The dugout

Cesare Martinelli on the point

“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Cesare Martinelli after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Juan Galeano

The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.

Match

Empoli draw a blank against Palermo

The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Palermo defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.

In brief

13 Edition

The Empoli Post

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Pietro Pellegri wins it after the whistle should have gone

96 minutes played. Pietro Pellegri found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Mantova went from a point to nothing inside one movement.

Player ratings

Both of them Pietro Pellegri's — 9.25

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.25, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Player ratings

Up for the corner, and Youssef Maleh delivers — 7.87

Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Youssef Maleh scored, was marked 7.87, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.

Squad

A falling-out at Empoli

Daniel Boloca and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Player ratings

Joseph Ceesay was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

Match

Pietro Pellegri sends Empoli past Mantova

It finished 3‑2, and it was Pietro Pellegri’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Empoli.

Squad

A row about effort at Empoli

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Filippo Bandinelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Market

No place for Marco Curto in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Marco Curto has his answer from Empoli; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

The dugout

No hiding place for Duccio Degli Innocenti

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Duccio Degli Innocenti, and the manager let it.

In brief

12 Edition

The Empoli Post

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Joseph Ceesay beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 26. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Filippo Bandinelli in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Empoli this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Daniel Boloca 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Mattia De Sciglio

“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.

Player ratings

The afternoon belonged to Tommaso Barbieri

A mark of 7.53, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.

Squad

Jeremías Ruiz signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jeremías Ruiz and Empoli agree another 2 years.

The dugout

Empoli pick somebody else ahead of Tyronne Ebuehi

There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Cesare Martinelli chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.

Squad

No place for Jeremías Ruiz in the new shape

He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Empoli are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.

In brief

11 Edition

The Empoli Post

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Tempers go at Empoli

Daniel Boloca 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.

Squad

Real improvement from Gabriele Indragoli at Empoli

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Gabriele Indragoli is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

The dugout

No hiding place for Andrea Fulignati

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Andrea Fulignati, and the manager let it.

Match

A bad afternoon for Empoli against Carrarese

0‑2 to Carrarese, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

A row about effort at Empoli

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Youssef Maleh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Boardroom

Doors closed at Empoli

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

Player ratings

Youssef Maleh beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Empoli

18 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.

The dugout

Cesare Martinelli answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

In brief

10 Edition

The Empoli Post

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Andrea Fulignati

There were 9 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.

Player ratings

A brace, and Pietro Pellegri takes the afternoon — 9.17

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Pietro Pellegri provided it, and the 9.17 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

Words exchanged at Empoli

Daniel Boloca 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.

Boardroom

Belts tighten at Empoli

The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.

Match

Pietro Pellegri the difference as Empoli beat Cesena

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Pietro Pellegri. 3‑2 against Cesena, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Squad

Filippo Bandinelli 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 dugout

Filippo Bandinelli 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.

Squad

Nicolas Haas is no longer first choice

The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Nicolas Haas 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.

Loan watch

Gabriele Guarino has seen enough of Parma

“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 Empoli, and 1 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.

In brief

6 Edition

The Empoli Post

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

13 saves: Andrea Fulignati was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 13 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Match

Nowhere to hide for Empoli

1‑4 against Sampdoria, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Market

Not going: Bogdan Popov stays at Empoli

“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Pogon had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.

Boardroom

Empoli close the window on a squad of their own making

12 in and 4 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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Empoli

Daniel Boloca 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.

Boardroom

Empoli counting the cost

The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Empoli now.

Squad

A row about effort at Empoli

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrea Ghion was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Daniel Boloca 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.

Market

The Luca Magnino conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: Como will make the call about Luca Magnino this week. Empoli have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

In brief

3 Edition

The Empoli Post

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Empoli spend $6.9M to raise the standard

This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $6.9M has been paid because Daniel Boloca is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.

Market

Empoli pay Fiorentina $5.6M for a proper upgrade

Fiorentina did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $5.6M for Abdelhamid Sabiri, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.

Transfer targets

Bari tell Empoli: Michele Cerofolini is not for sale

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.

Market

Empoli say no — this time

The offer from Casertana for Iwo Kaczmarski 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Empoli

Filippo Bandinelli 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 terraces

Empoli spend $6.9M on the signing the town wanted

It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $6.9M for Daniel Boloca, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.

Squad

Andrea Ghion 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.

Market

Pisa watching Gabriele Guarino

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Empoli have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Squad

No place for Abdelhamid Sabiri in the new shape

He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Empoli are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.

In brief

  • Squad 14 new faces, and Empoli are still learning each other
  • The dugout Tommaso Lastoria knocks on the manager's door
  • The dugout The manager plants his flag on Luca Magnino
3 Edition

The Sassuolo Herald

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Simone Cinquegrano has said yes to Padova

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Sassuolo have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Market

Business is business: Daniel Boloca goes

Empoli paid $6.9M and Sassuolo took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.

Squad

A move Róber Pier would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Róber Pier is living that version at Sassuolo, and it tends to show in the first month.

Market

Sassuolo sign Tommaso Cassandro for $1.5M

The paperwork is done: Tommaso Cassandro joins from Catanzaro in a deal worth $1.5M. Now comes the harder part.

Squad

Ignace Van Der Brempt in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sassuolo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

Porto tell Sassuolo: André Silva is not for sale

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.

Squad

Róber Pier is a square peg at Sassuolo

The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Harold Preciado is in the works

Sassuolo have made the call to Porto. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

Market

Sassuolo and Róber Pier are talking past each other

“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.

In brief

2 Edition

The Empoli Post

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Transfer targets

Fee done, terms next for Daniel Boloca

Empoli and Sassuolo have settled on $6.9M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.

Market

Empoli spend $7.6M to raise the standard

This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $7.6M has been paid because Tommaso Barbieri is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.

Market

Bogdan Popov says no to Cracovia

“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Bogdan Popov had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Saba Lobzhanidze rejects the move

Empoli had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Atlanta United FC, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Squad

Stiven Shpendi stays put

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

Squad

A falling-out at Empoli

Andrea Ghion and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Market

Business is business: Samuele Perisan goes

Reggiana paid $580.0K and Empoli took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.

The terraces

Empoli spend $7.6M on the signing the town wanted

It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $7.6M for Tommaso Barbieri, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.

Squad

A row about effort at Empoli

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lorenzo Ignacchiti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief

2 Edition

The Sassuolo Herald

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Transfer targets

Sassuolo rebuffed over Alessandro Buongiorno

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Napoli have kept their man, and Sassuolo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Transfer targets

Sassuolo bid $8.4M for Matías Vargas

The offer went to Gimnasia y Esgrima 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.

Market

Luca Lipani has said yes to Sorrento

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Sassuolo have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Market

Sassuolo turn down Parma for Filippo Romagna

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

Squad

Arijanet Murić signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Arijanet Murić and Sassuolo agree another 4 years.

Squad

Words exchanged at Sassuolo

Ignace Van Der Brempt 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.

Market

The clock runs on Armand Laurienté's contract

48 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

Empoli expected to open talks for Daniel Boloca

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

Squad

A row about effort at Sassuolo

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sonosi Daldum was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

In brief

1 Edition

The Empoli Post

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Transfer targets

Empoli bid $7.6M for Tommaso Barbieri

The offer went to Cremonese 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.

Transfer targets

Empoli make their move for Daniel Boloca

$6.1M on the table at Sassuolo. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Squad

A move Edoardo Soleri would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Edoardo Soleri is living that version at Empoli, and it tends to show in the first month.

Market

West Bromwich Albion come back empty-handed

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

Squad

Filippo Bandinelli stays put

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

Squad

Words exchanged at Empoli

Andrea Ghion 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Empoli

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Andrea Fulignati was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Sota Kitano

Empoli asked and Red Bull Salzburg said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Market

36 months and counting on Filippo Bandinelli

Still no offer on the table, and Filippo Bandinelli’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.

In brief

1 Edition

The Sassuolo Herald

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Domenico Berardi: 16 seasons and counting

406 appearances across 16 seasons in one shirt. Careers like that are not built on purpose any more, and Sassuolo know exactly what they have.

Transfer targets

Minnesota United FC tell Sassuolo: Kelvin Yeboah is not for sale

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.

Market

Arijanet Murić wants more than Sassuolo are offering

“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.

Squad

Nemanja Matić signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nemanja Matić commits to Sassuolo for another 2 years.

Squad

Words exchanged at Sassuolo

Nemanja Matić 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.

Market

Empoli watching Daniel Boloca

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Sassuolo have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Market

Nobody at Sassuolo has picked up the phone to Duje Ćaleta-Car

49 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.

Transfer targets

A loan move for André Silva is in the works

Sassuolo have made the call to Porto. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

Squad

5 new faces, and Sassuolo 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.

In brief