From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match28 Dec 2026
47 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Match26 Dec 2026
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 12 matches without defeat is a foundation Al-Ittihad did not have in the autumn.
Squad28 Dec 2026
At 21, Roger Fernandes is already the best thing here
An average of 7.43 in a first team he is several years too young for. Al-Ittihad have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
310% of the income goes out in wages at Al-Ittihad
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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Mario Mitaj gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match26 Dec 2026
It finished 2-2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match19 Dec 2026
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Al-Ittihad have 11 straight wins of it.
Match19 Dec 2026
Najran will want this one forgotten quickly: 3-0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Al-Ittihad were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad21 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Ahmed Al-Ghamdi
“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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Al-Ittihad have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Market21 Dec 2026
Fabinho linked with a move away
The name of Fabinho keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Al-Ittihad say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Jan-Carlo Simić asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match12 Dec 2026
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Al-Ittihad have 10 straight wins of it.
Match12 Dec 2026
Al-Ahli made Al-Ittihad work for it, but the scoreboard read 1-0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Houssem Aouar is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.32 with 4 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad14 Dec 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Loan watch14 Dec 2026
11 appearances away from home and 7 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Market14 Dec 2026
The Moussa Diaby talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Ittihad know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Loan watch14 Dec 2026
9 appearances at Al Shabab and the goals keep coming. Al-Ittihad are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Jan-Carlo Simić wants a proper job in this side
Shifted about, taken off before the hour, asked to do somebody else's running — Jan-Carlo Simić has had enough of being useful and would like to be picked. Al-Ittihad know, and have known for weeks.
The terraces14 Dec 2026
Column inches are not points, but a footballer whose name keeps appearing for the right reasons is a footballer whose price has just gone up.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match5 Dec 2026
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Al-Ittihad have 9 straight wins of it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match5 Dec 2026
Three points for Al-Ittihad, 2-0 the final word against Al-Nassr in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Moussa Diaby is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.41 with 6 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The award goes to Roger Fernandes, and nobody around here is inclined to argue with the choice.
Loan watch7 Dec 2026
“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-Ittihad, and 6 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match30 Nov 2026
37 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Match28 Nov 2026
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Al-Ittihad have 8 straight wins of it.
Match28 Nov 2026
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4-0 against Al-Wehda, and it could have been more.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad30 Nov 2026
At 21, Roger Fernandes is already the best thing here
An average of 7.29 in a first team he is several years too young for. Al-Ittihad have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 415% of everything Al-Ittihad earn
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.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Moussa Diaby is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.35 with 5 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Loan watch30 Nov 2026
9 appearances away from home and 5 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match21 Nov 2026
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Al-Ittihad have 7 straight wins of it.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Roger Fernandes and Al-Ittihad agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Match21 Nov 2026
Three points for Al-Ittihad, 1-0 the final word against Al-Qadisiyah in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad23 Nov 2026
3 goals and a season average of 7.29. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Market23 Nov 2026
Fabinho linked with a move away
The name of Fabinho keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Al-Ittihad say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Al-Ittihad, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match11 Nov 2026
Al-Saudi Al-Watani are out and Al-Ittihad go through, 1-0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Match14 Nov 2026
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Al-Ittihad have 6 straight wins of it.
Match14 Nov 2026
A 2-0 win over Hajer, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad16 Nov 2026
4 goals and a season average of 7.29. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Al-Ittihad lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad9 Nov 2026
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.
Match7 Nov 2026
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.
Market9 Nov 2026
“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-Ittihad hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Fabinho gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match7 Nov 2026
A 2-0 win over Al-Fateh, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Houssem Aouar is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.20 with 3 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match2 Nov 2026
25 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A season average of 7.13 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Al-Ittihad know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Market2 Nov 2026
Fabinho wants to know where this is going
“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-Ittihad hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Match31 Oct 2026
3 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Mario Mitaj, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 415% of everything Al-Ittihad earn
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.
Match31 Oct 2026
Three points for Al-Ittihad, 1-0 the final word against Al-Faisaly in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Jan-Carlo Simić
“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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Al-Ittihad have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad26 Oct 2026
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match24 Oct 2026
Al-Hilal made Al-Ittihad work for it, but the scoreboard read 2-0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“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.
Market26 Oct 2026
Fabinho linked with a move away
The name of Fabinho keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Al-Ittihad say nothing, which says plenty.
Loan watch26 Oct 2026
6 appearances away from home and 3 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Oct 2026
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match17 Oct 2026
Three points for Al-Ittihad, 2-0 the final word against Al-Shabab in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad19 Oct 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Steven Bergwijn
“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.
Match10 Oct 2026
0-1 to Al-Ra'ed, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Match3 Oct 2026
3 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A season average of 7.01 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Al-Ittihad know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The medical room confirms 48 days on the sidelines for Mario Mitaj, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 620% of everything Al-Ittihad earn
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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Three points for Al-Ittihad, 1-0 the final word against Al-Khaleej in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Al-Ittihad have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
Market5 Oct 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Ittihad know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market5 Oct 2026
Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Osama Al-Mermesh leaves Al-Ittihad the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market28 Sep 2026
“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-Ittihad can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 Sep 2026
16 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Match26 Sep 2026
Still nobody has beaten Al-Ittihad
The unbeaten run reaches 8. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Match26 Sep 2026
Three points for Al-Ittihad, 3-1 the final word against Al-Taawoun in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Al-Ittihad have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Squad28 Sep 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Market28 Sep 2026
Fabinho linked with a move away
The name of Fabinho keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Al-Ittihad say nothing, which says plenty.
Loan watch28 Sep 2026
4 appearances at ES Setif and the goals keep coming. Al-Ittihad are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Sep 2026
Still nobody has beaten Al-Ittihad
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Match19 Sep 2026
Three points for Al-Ittihad, 1-0 the final word against Najran in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad21 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Hassan Kadish
“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.
Market21 Sep 2026
The Moussa Diaby talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Ittihad know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad21 Sep 2026
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Squad21 Sep 2026
At 35 he has made the position his own, and the man he took it from has to find something to say about it. Al-Ittihad have a decision that made itself.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match9 Sep 2026
A 2-0 win over Al-Diriyah, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Squad14 Sep 2026
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market14 Sep 2026
The Najran deal is off
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Abdulrahman Al-Obud reports back to Al-Ittihad with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Match12 Sep 2026
Still nobody has beaten Al-Ittihad
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“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.
Match12 Sep 2026
It finished 1-1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Market14 Sep 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Ittihad know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market7 Sep 2026
Al-Taawoun come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Al-Ittihad did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market7 Sep 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Al-Ittihad have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Wages eat 789% of everything Al-Ittihad earn
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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Al-Ittihad have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
Market7 Sep 2026
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Al-Ittihad will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
“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-Ittihad can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The medical room confirms 19 days on the sidelines for Steven Bergwijn, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“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.
Market31 Aug 2026
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Al-Ittihad will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Match29 Aug 2026
A 2-2 draw with Al-Wehda leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
Squad31 Aug 2026
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Al-Ittihad have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Aug 2026
Ajax come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Al-Ittihad did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market24 Aug 2026
“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-Ittihad can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“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.
Match22 Aug 2026
It finished 1-1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Market24 Aug 2026
The Moussa Diaby talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Ittihad know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A new face in his position, and Youssef En-Nesyri suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Al-Ittihad have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match15 Aug 2026
3-0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Market17 Aug 2026
Al-Qadisiyah pay $4.6M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Market17 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Al-Ittihad have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Steven Bergwijn
“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.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Al-Ittihad are making the ground bigger
Work is signed off on a capacity of 59053. It is the sort of decision a club is judged on twenty years later, by people who were not there when it was taken.
Market17 Aug 2026
He is 16, and nobody at Al-Ittihad signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
Al Nasr come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Al-Ittihad did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market10 Aug 2026
“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-Ittihad hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Youssef En-Nesyri and Al-Ittihad agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“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.
Market10 Aug 2026
48 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Market10 Aug 2026
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Al-Ittihad has been clear about where Abdulrahman Al-Obud stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market3 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market3 Aug 2026
Fabinho wants to know where this is going
“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-Ittihad hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Steven Bergwijn commits to Al-Ittihad for another 4 years.
Market3 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Al-Ittihad have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.