96 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Cheltenham Town lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have shaken hands with Stoke City; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jake Bickerstaff and Cheltenham Town agree another 3 years.
Cheltenham Town have gone to Burnley with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Oliver Turton 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.
118 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Cheltenham Town lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
At 33, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Cheltenham Town, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Josh Davidson signs something — a contract at Cheltenham Town or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The words a physio says slowly. 125 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Benjamin Santelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Cheltenham Town would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Robbie Cundy has written the date down.
The words a physio says slowly. 53 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.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
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.
Jonathan Hogg 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 not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Cheltenham Town told Kamarni Ryan something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“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.
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.
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cheltenham Town lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Benjamin Santelli is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cheltenham Town this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Oliver Turton’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Cheltenham Town needing him to play as if none of it matters.
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Cheltenham Town could ask drops and the wages Tyler Walker can ask rise.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Josh Davidson signs something — a contract at Cheltenham Town or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
34 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Cheltenham Town lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
0‑3 against Northampton Town, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cheltenham Town can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Benjamin Santelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Cheltenham Town, another week without a signature from Grant Smith.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
111 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Cheltenham Town lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Grant Smith 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.
At 33, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Tranmere Rovers scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Stephen Morgan after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Cheltenham Town, and both men came out saying it was fine.
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
The deal with Harrogate Town 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kamarni Ryan and Cheltenham Town agree another 4 years.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Cheltenham Town can tell you which week it ends in.
The offer went to Norwich City this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Blackpool have kept their man, and Cheltenham Town go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 45 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings6 Dec 2027
Kamarni Ryan, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.93
A mark of 7.93 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.92 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Marcus Dinanga and Cheltenham Town agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lisav Eissat was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Kamarni Ryan 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 92 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 Cheltenham Town is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 15 combined actions and a mark of 6.79, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Jonathan Hogg 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.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
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.” Stephen Morgan chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
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.
The deal with Tottenham 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Benjamin Santelli 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.
Cheltenham Town asked and Lincoln City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
David Crespo 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.
5 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Cheltenham Town could ask drops and the wages Kyle Bartley can ask rise.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Cheltenham Town know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Cheltenham Town people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from Oldham Athletic for Jake Bickerstaff 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cheltenham Town have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Queens Park Rangers wanted more than $3.4M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cheltenham Town can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Benjamin Santelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Cheltenham Town asked and Cardiff City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Lisav Eissat 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 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Wycombe Wanderers have kept their man, and Cheltenham Town go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Priestley Farquharson will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Cheltenham Town the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Priestley Farquharson has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Josh Davidson and Cheltenham Town agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
David Crespo 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Philipp Lienhart is living that version at Tarazona, and it tends to show in the first month.
Marco Sangalli and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Tarazona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alejandro Gómez 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nahuel Cáceres trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Agüero has written the date down.
Position 17 on 36 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad17 May 2027
Ángel Recio falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Carlos Nieto will call it something else in private.
The dugout17 May 2027
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.” Nil Esteban chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Nahuel Cáceres and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Betis Deportivo left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad10 May 2027
Tamir Glazer falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Nil Esteban after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
“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 Tarazona, and it is not being withdrawn.
Joseba Zaldua 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.
0‑1 to Sevilla Atlético, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Tarazona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marco Sangalli 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.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout3 May 2027
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 Nil Esteban to a room that had heard them before.
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.
Position 18 and 32 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.
“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 Tarazona, and it is not being withdrawn.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Marco Sangalli 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 Tamir Glazer 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 David Crespo, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Apr 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 0‑1 Nil Esteban left the room before anybody could ask which.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Tarazona will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Joseba Zaldua 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.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Ángel Recio falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Tarazona can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout15 Mar 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 0‑1 Nil Esteban left the room before anybody could ask which.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Tarazona told João Bom something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tarazona can pretend not to have heard.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tarazona will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Juan Ignacio Duma and Tarazona agree another 2 years.
Joseba Zaldua 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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Tarazona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tamir Glazer 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.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; David Crespo will call it something else in private.
“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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Tarazona will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tarazona can pretend not to have heard.
Tarazona had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at River Plate, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Nahuel Cáceres was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Antequera left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Tarazona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tamir Glazer 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.
15 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tarazona lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Tarazona will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Tarazona, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everything agreed with Valladolid, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tarazona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Unionistas paid $490.0K and Tarazona took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
31 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Tarazona lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Tarazona will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Tarazona, and it is not being withdrawn.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Fernando Hernández 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.
Tarazona asked and Ibiza said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A 1‑0 win over Betis Deportivo, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Tarazona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ángel Recio 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.
14 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 134 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Tarazona can tell you which week it ends in.
Nahuel Cáceres and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Crespo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Tarazona will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
12 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tarazona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Ángel Recio 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.
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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Nil Esteban was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Tarazona dressing room was either.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Crespo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
100 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.
“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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Marcelo Vaca
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.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Toni Ramón scored, was marked 7.24, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tarazona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals in one match, Nahuel Cáceres on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Tarazona and Villarreal B.
0‑1 to Real Murcia, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Tarazona training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Crespo 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.
That is the business done at Tarazona until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tarazona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Crespo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Marc Trilles 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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Tarazona are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Sabadell in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Luca Lohr arrives from Cartagena with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
A season-long audition: Celta still own him, but the shirt and the minutes are Tarazona's to give. A loan is a bet both clubs believe they are winning.