102 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Ettifaq lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Ettifaq has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
A brace, and Álvaro Medrán takes the afternoon — 8.12
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Álvaro Medrán provided it, and the 8.12 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Meshal Al-Alaeli is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Khalid Al-Ghannam and Al-Ettifaq agree another 3 years.
6 goals in one match, Álvaro Medrán on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Al-Ettifaq and Hajer.
109 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Ettifaq lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Yasir Al-Shammari is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Álvaro Medrán 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 watch every Al-Ettifaq game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Al-Shabab runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The words a physio says slowly. 116 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 15 signed and 11 gone
That is the business done at Al-Ettifaq 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.
At 22 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.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Belal Al-Dawaa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Ettifaq the goodbyes have quietly begun.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Al-Ettifaq can tell you which week it ends in.
The words a physio says slowly. 123 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 offer from Naft Tehran for João Costa 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.
At 22 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Álvaro Medrán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Batin have kept their man, and Al-Ettifaq go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Al-Fateh paid $170.0K and Al-Ettifaq took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
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.
Successful dribbles: 49. 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.
130 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Ettifaq 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.” Al-Ettifaq have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Al-Ettifaq have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Álvaro Medrán 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.
Al-Ettifaq asked and Al-Fateh said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
137 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Ettifaq lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match14 Aug 2027
Another one collected away from home
12 on the bounce on the road for Al-Ettifaq. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Al-Ettifaq people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Al-Ettifaq they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The phone has started ringing about Abdoulaye Kanté again, and this time the name on the line is USM Alger. Al-Ettifaq are listening politely and promising nothing.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
In brief
SquadWords at Al-Ettifaq training over how hard people work
Boardroom$12.2M from the owner keeps Al-Ettifaq afloat
144 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Ettifaq lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Belal Al-Dawaa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Ettifaq the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Álvaro Medrán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Ettifaq this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Saeed Al-Shammari 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Saad Al-Mutairi 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 151 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 Álvaro Medrán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Radhi Al-Otaibi and Al-Ettifaq agree another 4 years.
Abdulbasit Hindi 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.
“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 Al-Ettifaq, and 0 appearances in 0 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Al-Ettifaq have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Álvaro Medrán 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.
Al-Ettifaq asked and Al-Wehda said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Abdulbasit Hindi 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Ettifaq know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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.
The offer from Golden Arrows for Mohau Nkota 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.
“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 Al-Ettifaq, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al-Ettifaq is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Al-Fateh keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Ettifaq this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Ta'ee have kept their man, and Al-Ettifaq 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 Madallah Al-Olayan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Ettifaq lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Everything was agreed with Al-Nahda and then the doctor spoke. Al-Ettifaq have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Mohau Nkota 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Álvaro Medrán 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.
Al-Ettifaq asked and Al-Orobah 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: Al-Shoulla have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Abdulbasit Hawsawi. The answer from Al-Ettifaq has not changed — yet.
26 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Ettifaq lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 Al-Ettifaq, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Al-Ettifaq have done the hard part with Al-Nahda, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Ahmad Al-Rehaili was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Al-Ettifaq training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Álvaro Medrán 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Fayha have kept their man, and Al-Ettifaq go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
30 appearances and 4 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Ettifaq lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Ettifaq can pretend not to have heard.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Al-Ettifaq have done the hard part with Al-Mojzel, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Álvaro Medrán 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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yahya Abu Dahi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
40 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Ettifaq lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Al-Jeel had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.29, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
At 21 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Al-Ettifaq is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Ettifaq this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Al-Ettifaq. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The words a physio says slowly. 47 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.
At 22 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.
The offer went to Al-Mojzel 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.
Add another name to the list: Al-Shoulla have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Abdulbasit Hawsawi. The answer from Al-Ettifaq has not changed — yet.
54 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Ettifaq lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The deal with Al-Fayha 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.
Álvaro Medrán 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Fayha have kept their man, and Al-Ettifaq go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Jack Hendry 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Turki Ba Al-Jawsh has his answer from Al-Ettifaq; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
61 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Ettifaq lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Álvaro Medrán 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Jack Hendry 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Ettifaq know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Al-Ettifaq. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The shrug has gone, the language is coming, and he now argues in training like somebody who expects to be here next year. Half a signing's value is this and none of it appears on a fee.
68 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Ettifaq lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A season average of 7.29 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Al-Ettifaq know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marzouq Tambakti will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Ettifaq the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Álvaro Medrán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Mathematically certain, and nobody in this town is going to bed early. Whatever else happened this season, it finishes a division above where it started.
75 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Ettifaq lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Al-Ettifaq had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
A season average of 7.02 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Al-Ettifaq know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad17 May 2027
Álvaro Medrán 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Álvaro Medrán signs something — a contract at Al-Ettifaq or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Al-Ettifaq would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
83 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Ettifaq lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Álvaro Medrán 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 Jack Hendry was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I did not go to Al-Saudi Al-Watani to sit and watch. I want to come back to Al-Ettifaq and fight for my place.” 8 appearances in 38 matches say the rest.
Every club 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 it has been tried.
90 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Ettifaq lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Álvaro Medrán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Abdulbasit Hindi 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.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Abdulelah Hawsawi has moved up it.
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Al-Ettifaq would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ziyad Al-Ghamdi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 98 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 season average of 7.29 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Al-Ettifaq know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marzouq Tambakti will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Ettifaq the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Álvaro Medrán 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Jordan Larsson signs something — a contract at Al-Ettifaq or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jalal Al-Salem trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
105 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Ettifaq lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jack Hendry was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
112 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Ettifaq lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Al-Ettifaq training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Álvaro Medrán 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.
Abdulbasit Hindi 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.
“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 Al-Ettifaq, and 8 appearances in 34 say he has earned the hearing.
5 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.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Ettifaq know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
119 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Ettifaq lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Álvaro Medrán 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.
Abdulbasit Hindi 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.
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 Abdullah Madu has written the date down.
He is 19, he is averaging 7.29, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marzouq Tambakti will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Ettifaq the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Álvaro Medrán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Jack Hendry 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 name of Jordan Larsson keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Al-Ettifaq say nothing, which says plenty.
The terraces29 Mar 2027
Supporters make their feelings known about Pedro Henrique
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Al-Ettifaq 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 Al-Ettifaq. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.02, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Al-Ettifaq training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Álvaro Medrán 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 window away with the national side, and a shirt at Al-Ettifaq that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Al-Ettifaq would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Yahya Abu Dahi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Álvaro Medrán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Abdulbasit Hindi 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.
“I watch every Al-Ettifaq game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Al-Saudi Al-Watani runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Al-Ettifaq told Abdulbasit Hindi something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Ettifaq know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
Loan watchThe goals keep arriving from Mohau Nkota’s exile
Position 2 on 74 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 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Álvaro Medrán 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.
He is 19 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
A season average of 7.27 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Al-Ettifaq know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marzouq Tambakti will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Al-Ettifaq the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Two goals and a mark of 9.76 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Al-Ettifaq people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Al-Ettifaq and Al-Shoulla, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
10 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Rayane Messi did not need any: 9.12, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
7.74, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Álvaro Medrán 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.
A performance of 8.81 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Al-Ettifaq training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jack Hendry 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.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” JS Kabylie had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Álvaro Medrán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Abdulbasit Hindi 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.
“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 Al-Ettifaq, and 0 appearances in 26 say he has earned the hearing.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Mohammed Al-Rashid is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
9 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
“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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Ettifaq can pretend not to have heard.
Squad1 Feb 2027
At 19, Rayane Messi is already the best thing here
An average of 7.20 in a first team he is several years too young for. Al-Ettifaq have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
“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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Al-Ettifaq people have started saying his name in the past tense.
KAA Gent paid $12.1M and Al-Ettifaq took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Moussa Dembélé has gone, the accounts have $12.1M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
The clubs have shaken hands with Al-Fayha; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Turki Al-Madani has agreed terms with Al-Hazem for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Al-Ettifaq people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Match16 Jan 2027
Another one collected away from home
8 on the bounce on the road for Al-Ettifaq. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Abdoulaye Kanté did not need any: 7.72, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“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.
Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Rayane Messi, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.67
A mark of 7.67 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Álvaro Medrán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Abdulbasit Hindi 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Al-Ettifaq will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
He is 19, he is averaging 7.16, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
7‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings28 Dec 2026
Abdoulaye Kanté, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.07
A mark of 8.07 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.
8 goals in one match, Moussa Dembélé on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Al-Ettifaq and Al-Nahda.
A performance of 9.52 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Al-Ettifaq training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Álvaro Medrán 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.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Al-Ettifaq hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Álvaro Medrán 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.
“I did not go to Al-Saudi Al-Watani to sit and watch. I want to come back to Al-Ettifaq and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 18 matches say the rest.
12 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.
Álvaro Medrán 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Saeed Al-Nemer has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
11 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.
A season average of 7.12 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Al-Ettifaq know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Moussa Dembélé was on a different afternoon to everybody else
10.00. 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.
6 goals in one match, Moussa Dembélé on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Al-Ettifaq and Al-Saudi Al-Watani.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Al-Ettifaq training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Álvaro Medrán 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.
10 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.
Al-Mojzel will want this one forgotten quickly: 6‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Al-Ettifaq were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Two goals and a mark of 8.59 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Abdoulaye Kanté did not need any: 8.17, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
5 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Ettifaq this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jordan Larsson provided it, and the 10.00 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
41 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Álvaro Medrán 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.
Marked 10.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Álvaro Medrán 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.
Abdulbasit Hindi 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.
A performance of 8.79 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Moussa Dembélé was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.52. 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.
“I watch every Al-Ettifaq game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Al-Saudi Al-Watani runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Yahya Abu Dahi
SquadThe division's best last weekend was a Al-Ettifaq man
Al-Shoulla will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Al-Ettifaq were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Two goals and a mark of 9.91 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jordan Larsson provided it, and the 9.63 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
He is 19, he is averaging 7.04, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Al-Ettifaq and Al-Shoulla in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Abdoulaye Kanté did not need any: 8.08, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
“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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Ettifaq this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 10.00 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
In brief
Player ratingsJordan Larsson was on a different afternoon to everybody else
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Al-Ettifaq have 5 straight wins of it.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Al-Ettifaq training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Álvaro Medrán 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.
Match24 Oct 2026
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Al-Ettifaq. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Moussa Dembélé. 1‑0 against Al-Orobah, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Al-Batin will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Al-Ettifaq were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Álvaro Medrán 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.
Marked 9.72 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Abdoulaye Kanté 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.
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.
Position 2, 23 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Hamad Al-Rashid is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ali Al-Mutairi 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jordan Larsson provided it, and the 10.00 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Rayane Messi did not need any: 7.88, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
8 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Al-Ettifaq and Al-Njoom in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Álvaro Medrán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Two goals and a mark of 9.65 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Rayane Messi did not need any: 8.22, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Álvaro Medrán 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: 22. 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Al-Ettifaq and Al-Riyadh, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Rayane Messi 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Al-Ettifaq training over how hard people work
“I did not go to Al-Saudi Al-Watani to sit and watch. I want to come back to Al-Ettifaq and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 6 matches say the rest.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yahya Abu Dahi, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Ibrahim Al-Nemer was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Al-Ettifaq dressing room was either.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Madallah Al-Olayan reports back to Al-Ettifaq with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Al-Ettifaq hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Al-Ettifaq close the window on a squad of their own making
17 in and 8 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Ettifaq this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Everyone has stopped pretending: ES Setif will make the call about Madallah Al-Olayan this week. Al-Ettifaq have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
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.
At 21 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Al-Ettifaq will try not to make too much of it.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 95. Al-Hazem had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Four weeks in which nobody in the division did his job better. The award goes on a shelf and the player goes back into the side, which is the order Al-Ettifaq prefer.
Álvaro Medrán 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.
“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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
8 new faces, and Al-Ettifaq 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.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Ibrahim Al-Nemer kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jordan Larsson provided it, and the 9.45 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Abdoulaye Kanté, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.07
A mark of 8.07 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.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Al-Ettifaq and Al-Saudi Al-Watani in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Álvaro Medrán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Abdulbasit Hindi 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Moussa Dembélé provided it, and the 10.00 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Al-Ettifaq and Al-Mojzel, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Álvaro Medrán 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 name of Meshal Sibyani has come up in conversations Al-Ettifaq were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Salman Al-Dosari is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
“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.
Ondrej Duda 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Al-Ettifaq training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Álvaro Medrán 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.
Add another name to the list: Al-Saudi Al-Watani have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Belal Al-Dawaa. The answer from Al-Ettifaq has not changed — yet.
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Khalid Al-Ghannam trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.