39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Estoril Praia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The offer from Maritimo for Khayon Edwards 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Estoril Praia have done the hard part with Famalicao, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. AVS have kept their man, and Estoril Praia 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 Pizzi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Estoril Praia 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 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Estoril Praia have lost him in all but the paperwork.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Estoril Praia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Estoril Praia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Estoril Praia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Estoril Praia can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Doxa for Kelian Baruti Liamba 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Estoril Praia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
7 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
In brief
The dugoutFotis Ioannidis has become a man the manager trusts
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Estoril Praia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Estoril Praia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Estoril Praia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
The words a physio says slowly. 36 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Estoril Praia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Kelian Baruti Liamba had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Fotis Ioannidis 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 Estoril Praia 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.
20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Estoril Praia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Estoril Praia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Estoril Praia can pretend not to have heard.
Fotis Ioannidis 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
29 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Estoril Praia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 52 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Estoril Praia, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Estoril Praia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Estoril Praia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Samuel Amissah is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
Nobody at Estoril Praia 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.
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Estoril Praia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 61 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Estoril Praia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Jordan Holsgrove 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.
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.
46 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Estoril Praia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 69 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
He is 20, and nobody at Estoril Praia signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
74 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Estoril Praia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Estoril Praia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fotis Ioannidis 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 Jordan Holsgrove was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Estoril Praia 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.
84 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Estoril Praia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Estoril Praia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Estoril Praia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at Estoril Praia 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Estoril Praia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The terraces10 May 2027
Supporters make their feelings known about Yanis Begraoui
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Estoril Praia would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Estoril Praia. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
92 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Estoril Praia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Estoril Praia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Estoril Praia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Fotis Ioannidis and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Estoril Praia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jordan Holsgrove 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Estoril Praia know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
100 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Estoril Praia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Estoril Praia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fotis Ioannidis 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Estoril Praia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jordan Holsgrove 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.
Nobody at Estoril Praia 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.
In brief
The dugoutYanis Begraoui asks for a word with the manager
The words a physio says slowly. 108 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Estoril Praia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Estoril Praia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fotis Ioannidis 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.
115 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Estoril Praia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Estoril Praia will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The offer from Falkenberg for Kelian Baruti Liamba 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.
Joel Robles 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 Jordan Holsgrove was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
123 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Estoril Praia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 127 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Estoril Praia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Joel Robles 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
3‑2 against Vitoria Guimaraes, under lights, against people who do not speak the same language as the crowd. These are the evenings a club measures its decade in, and there are never as many of them as anybody expects.
Fotis Ioannidis 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.
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.
Minute 86, against Arouca, 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.
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.
0‑3 to Benfica, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ferro will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Estoril Praia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Estoril Praia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yanis Begraoui, and the manager let it.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Estoril Praia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pizzi 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.
3‑2. Continental football is where a club finds out what it actually is, and Estoril Praia came through the finding-out well against Vitoria Guimaraes.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Fotis Ioannidis provided it, and the 8.79 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Estoril Praia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fotis Ioannidis 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Estoril Praia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pizzi 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.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
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.
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jordan Holsgrove was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to André Lacximicant, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting João Carvalho'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 dugout22 Feb 2027
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 0‑2 Pedro Mota left the room before anybody could ask which.
29 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Estoril Praia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Estoril Praia people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Antef Tsoungui scored, was marked 7.67, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
The deal with Olimpia is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Fotis Ioannidis 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Rafael Porfírio has, at Estoril Praia, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The words a physio says slowly. 44 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.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Kelian Baruti Liamba had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Estoril Praia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Estoril Praia asked and Académico de Viseu said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pizzi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
The dugoutYanis Begraoui has become a man the manager trusts
60 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Estoril Praia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Estoril Praia have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Two goals and a mark of 8.21 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Joel Robles and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Estoril Praia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jordan Holsgrove 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: João Carvalho. 2‑0 against Vitoria Guimaraes, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
77 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Estoril Praia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
3‑1 against Tromso, and a performance that will be described to people who were not there for the rest of the season. Yanis Begraoui was at the centre of the description.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Estoril Praia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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. 7.80, and 2 involvements.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Tromso were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Tromso tried to reorganise, Estoril Praia did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Estoril Praia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pizzi 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.
In brief
Player ratingsFotis Ioannidis was on a different afternoon to everybody else
The words a physio says slowly. 85 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.
Fotis Ioannidis 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Estoril Praia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jordan Holsgrove 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.
92 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Estoril Praia lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fotis Ioannidis 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.
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.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Jordan Holsgrove.
4‑1 against Slavia Mozyr, and a performance that will change how the rest of the competition talks about this club. Reputations in continental football are built in single evenings and this was one.
Two goals and a mark of 8.20 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jordan Holsgrove was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ferro has his answer from Estoril Praia; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
16 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Estoril Praia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
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 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.
Jordan Holsgrove 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 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.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
15 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.
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.
12 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.
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.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.10 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Estoril Praia can pretend not to have heard.
Joel Robles 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 Jordan Holsgrove was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Estoril Praia asked and Mouscron said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
$16.9M on the table at Sporting CP. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The offer went to Felgueiras 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.
Estoril Praia had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Mouscron, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Jordan Holsgrove 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.
Estoril Praia asked and Portimonense said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Add another name to the list: Estrela da Amadora have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Peixinho. The answer from Estoril Praia has not changed — yet.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Tiago Simoes has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Antonio Miranda is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.