From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Abdullah Al-Otaibi has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Wehda
Abdullah Al-Owaishir 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Al-Wehda training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Augustine Oladapo 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.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Ali Adnan loses the manager who believed in him
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Ali Adnan's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Al-Wehda will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Masoud Bakheet is on it.
Market5 Apr 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Wehda know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Loan watch5 Apr 2027
28 starts now, an average of 6.73, and the team sheet at Al-Njoom has stopped being a question. Exactly what everybody signed up for.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom29 Mar 2027
Pressure builds in the Al-Wehda boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Wehda have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Wehda
Khalfan Al Naqbi 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
62 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Morato wants to go home
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Al-Wehda know it.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Rayan Al-Mousa 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Mar 2027
Khalfan Al Naqbi 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Al-Wehda training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Augustine Oladapo 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.
Market22 Mar 2027
The name of Demba Diallo keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Al-Wehda say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Mohammed Al-Qunayan is on it.
Squad22 Mar 2027
He goes off to be somebody else’s player for a fortnight. Al-Wehda lose him for the window and would like him returned in the condition he left.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Al-Wehda that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad15 Mar 2027
16 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Wehda lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
Saad Al-Qahtani: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Wehda have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad15 Mar 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Al-Wehda are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad15 Mar 2027
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-Wehda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad15 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Al-Wehda
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Augustine Oladapo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdulaziz Majrashi, and the manager let it.
Market15 Mar 2027
The name of Darwin González keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Al-Wehda say nothing, which says plenty.
Market15 Mar 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Al-Wehda, another week without a signature from Morad Khodari.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Dino Halilović is on it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Masoud Bakheet
23 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Wehda lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Darwin González commits to Al-Wehda for another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Al-Wehda can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Al-Wehda
Khalfan Al Naqbi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Majed Abdullah
“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 dugout8 Mar 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Masoud Bakheet is on it.
Market8 Mar 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Wehda know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
$4.2M taken back off the Al-Wehda table
What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
Morato 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
Crisis
Squad1 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Masoud Bakheet
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Wehda lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match27 Feb 2027
Beaten 0‑3 by Al-Taawoun, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Match1 Mar 2027
Full time on the season at Al-Wehda
Position 11 on 21 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
Pressure builds in the Al-Wehda boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad1 Mar 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Al-Wehda can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Wehda
Khalfan Al Naqbi 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 dugout1 Mar 2027
“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.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Feb 2027
40 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Wehda lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad22 Feb 2027
7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match20 Feb 2027
The drought breaks for Al-Wehda
9 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Najran were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Al-Wehda may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad22 Feb 2027
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-Wehda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match20 Feb 2027
It finished 2‑1, and it was Darwin González’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Al-Wehda.
The terraces22 Feb 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Khalfan Al Naqbi 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.
Squad22 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Al-Wehda
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Augustine Oladapo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Feb 2027
48 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Wehda lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match13 Feb 2027
The wait goes on for Al-Wehda
9 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.
Match13 Feb 2027
0‑4 to Al-Ahli, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Abdullah Al-Owaishir 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 dugout15 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Saeed Al-Muwallad, and the manager let it.
Boardroom15 Feb 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Al-Wehda
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rayan Al-Mousa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad15 Feb 2027
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Masoud Bakheet
57 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Wehda lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match6 Feb 2027
The wait goes on for Al-Wehda
8 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Demba Diallo and Al-Wehda agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Wehda
Farouk Chafaï 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.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
The clock did what Al-Khaleej would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Loan watch8 Feb 2027
“I did not go to Ohod to sit and watch. I want to come back to Al-Wehda and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 26 matches say the rest.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Al-Wehda
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Augustine Oladapo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match6 Feb 2027
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 Feb 2027
Masoud Bakheet damages knee ligaments — 65 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 65 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Wehda will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match30 Jan 2027
7 matches without a win for Al-Wehda
The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Al-Wehda are no longer polite ones.
Squad1 Feb 2027
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.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
$520.0K settles it between the clubs for Marwan Al-Haidari
Al-Khaleej have accepted the money. What Al-Wehda do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Market1 Feb 2027
Wadhah Malik hands in a written request
“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-Wehda can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Al-Wehda close the window on a squad of their own making
0 in and 1 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.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Wehda
Khalfan Al Naqbi 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.
Match30 Jan 2027
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad25 Jan 2027
73 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Wehda lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al-Wehda will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market25 Jan 2027
“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.
Match23 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Al-Wehda's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Wehda has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Khalfan Al Naqbi 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.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Al-Wehda asked and Al-Faisaly said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match23 Jan 2027
Al-Qadisiyah left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Home is on Morato's mind
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Al-Wehda are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Jan 2027
Masoud Bakheet damages knee ligaments — 80 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 80 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 31 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market18 Jan 2027
“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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match16 Jan 2027
5 matches without a win for Al-Wehda
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Al-Wehda are no longer polite ones.
Squad18 Jan 2027
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-Wehda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market18 Jan 2027
Mohammed Al-Shalawi has left for Al-Batin in a $430.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
Al-Wehda asked and Al-Hilal said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to Al-Nassr: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 2027
87 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Wehda lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad11 Jan 2027
9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Wehda will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market11 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Match9 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Al-Wehda's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Wehda has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Wehda
Abdullah Al-Owaishir 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.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Al-Wehda asked and Damac said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Marked 7.87. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Loan watch11 Jan 2027
“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-Wehda, and 2 appearances in 22 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad4 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Masoud Bakheet
95 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Wehda lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match2 Jan 2027
Chastening afternoon for Al-Wehda
A 0‑3 beating by Al-Faisaly was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 49 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market4 Jan 2027
“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-Wehda, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Morato keeps the receipts
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Al-Wehda may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market4 Jan 2027
Al-Wehda say no — this time
The offer from Al-Nahda for Abdulrahman Al-Shammari 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Al-Wehda
Abdullah Al-Owaishir and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Market4 Jan 2027
The phone has started ringing about Mohammed Al-Qunayan again, and this time the name on the line is Al-Ra'ed. Al-Wehda are listening politely and promising nothing.
In brief
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Player ratings
Nobody could get near Demba Diallo
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Boardroom
Nobody left the Al-Wehda dressing room in a hurry
-
Squad
A row about effort at Al-Wehda
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Dec 2026
Masoud Bakheet damages knee ligaments — 105 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 105 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.
Match26 Dec 2026
0‑3 to Al-Hilal, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 58 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Rayan Al-Mousa: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Wehda have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad28 Dec 2026
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-Wehda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout28 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Al-Wehda training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Augustine Oladapo 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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Nobody left the Al-Wehda dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Loan watch28 Dec 2026
“I did not go to Al-Shoulla to sit and watch. I want to come back to Al-Wehda and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 19 matches say the rest.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 2026
114 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Wehda lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al-Wehda will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market21 Dec 2026
Morato hands in a written request
“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-Wehda can pretend not to have heard.
The dugout21 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
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-Wehda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Al-Wehda training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khalfan Al Hashmi 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.
Match19 Dec 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Abdullah Al-Otaibi after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Looking ahead21 Dec 2026
The leaders are next for Al-Wehda
Al-Hilal top the table and they are coming into view. Nothing to lose, which is what every manager says before losing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Masoud Bakheet
121 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Wehda lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match12 Dec 2026
Al-Ra'ed will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Al-Wehda were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Al-Wehda will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad14 Dec 2026
The match ball belongs to Demba Diallo, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Wehda have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Al-Wehda
Khalfan Al Naqbi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch14 Dec 2026
“I watch every Al-Wehda game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ohod runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Marked 8.49 — 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.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Demba Diallo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.46. 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Dec 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 11 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Salman Al-Muwashar damages knee ligaments — 33 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 33 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Wehda will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The dugout7 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Wehda
Khalfan Al Naqbi 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 dugout7 Dec 2026
Ali Adnan is still being punished for one mistake
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.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
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 1‑3 Abdullah Al-Otaibi left the room before anybody could ask which.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Ali Adnan's mistake decides it
Ten men and a goalkeeper behind him, and it still finished in the net. He knew before anybody told him, and nobody at Al-Wehda needed to.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad30 Nov 2026
40 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Wehda lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Wehda will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Wehda have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Khalfan Al Naqbi 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.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Demba Diallo beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match30 Nov 2026
Halfway: Al-Wehda sit in position 11
11 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
Loan watch30 Nov 2026
“I did not go to Al-Shoulla to sit and watch. I want to come back to Al-Wehda and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 15 matches say the rest.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Masoud Bakheet
“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
Uneasy
Squad23 Nov 2026
48 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Wehda lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match18 Nov 2026
Al-Wehda bow out of the cup
Al-Orobah go through and Al-Wehda go home, 1‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Sultan Al-Juhani could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.49
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.49, 1 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Wehda will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match21 Nov 2026
Darwin González wins it after the whistle should have gone
90 minutes played. Darwin González found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Najran went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Market23 Nov 2026
Morato hands in a written request
“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-Wehda can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.33, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Farouk Chafaï 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
56 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Wehda lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Al-Wehda will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Wehda
Abdullah Al-Owaishir 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Augustine Oladapo 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.
Loan watch16 Nov 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-Wehda, and 2 appearances in 14 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdulrahman Al-Shammari, and the manager let it.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
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.
Market16 Nov 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Al-Wehda know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Abdulrahman Al-Shammari’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Al-Wehda needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Nov 2026
65 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Wehda lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match7 Nov 2026
Chastening afternoon for Al-Wehda
A 0‑3 beating by Al-Ahli was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 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 matches without a win for Al-Wehda
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Al-Wehda are no longer polite ones.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Al-Wehda
Farouk Chafaï and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Al-Wehda training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khalfan Al Hashmi 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.
Boardroom9 Nov 2026
Nobody left the Al-Wehda dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
A promise honoured at Al-Wehda
Something was said to Khalfan Al Naqbi and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Ali Adnan is still being punished for one mistake
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad2 Nov 2026
Salman Al-Muwashar damages knee ligaments — 73 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 73 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
10 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match31 Oct 2026
Chastening afternoon for Al-Wehda
A 0‑4 beating by Al-Nassr was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Waleed Bakshween: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Wehda have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Khalfan Al Naqbi 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 dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Farouk Chafaï
“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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Nobody left the Al-Wehda dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
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 0‑4 Abdullah Al-Otaibi left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Abdulwahid Al-Nakhli 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Oct 2026
80 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Al-Wehda lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad26 Oct 2026
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-Wehda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match24 Oct 2026
1‑3 to Al-Shabab, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Augustine Oladapo 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.
Loan watch26 Oct 2026
“I did not go to Al-Shoulla to sit and watch. I want to come back to Al-Wehda and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 10 matches say the rest.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Abdullah Al-Otaibi after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Abdullah Al-Owaishir's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Morad Khodari, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
Salman Al-Muwashar damages knee ligaments — 88 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 88 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Al-Wehda
Khalfan Al Naqbi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 34 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Al-Wehda is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Al-Wehda training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khalfan Al Hashmi 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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Morato
“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.
Loan watch19 Oct 2026
“I watch every Al-Wehda game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ohod runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Abdullah Al-Otaibi was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Al-Wehda dressing room was either.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Masoud Bakheet
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
Salman Al-Muwashar damages knee ligaments — 96 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 96 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 dugout12 Oct 2026
Morato says Al-Wehda went back on their word
“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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Wehda
Khalfan Al Naqbi 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 Oct 2026
42 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Al-Wehda are still strangers to each other
7 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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout12 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.
Market12 Oct 2026
The name of Peter Olayinka keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Al-Wehda say nothing, which says plenty.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Salman Al-Muwashar’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Al-Wehda needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
103 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Wehda lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match3 Oct 2026
Hajer will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Al-Wehda were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
A brace, and Khalfan Al Naqbi takes the afternoon — 8.54
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Khalfan Al Naqbi provided it, and the 8.54 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Al-Wehda know it.
Squad5 Oct 2026
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-Wehda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces5 Oct 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Khalfan Al Naqbi 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Al-Wehda
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Augustine Oladapo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
93% of the income goes out in wages at Al-Wehda
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Sep 2026
110 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Al-Wehda lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match26 Sep 2026
Chastening afternoon for Al-Wehda
A 0‑4 beating by Al-Fateh was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Abdullah Al-Owaishir 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
3 matches without a goal for Al-Wehda
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Player ratings28 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Al-Wehda training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khalfan Al Hashmi 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.
The dugout28 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.
Boardroom28 Sep 2026
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑4, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Sep 2026
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Wehda
Abdullah Al-Owaishir 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Al-Wehda
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rayan Al-Mousa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Loan watch21 Sep 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-Wehda, and 2 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Abdullah Al-Otaibi after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rayan Al-Mousa, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Khalfan Al Naqbi 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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Salman Al-Muwashar is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Sep 2026
There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.17 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Wehda
Khalfan Al Naqbi 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Salem Al-Maqadi and Al-Wehda agree another 3 years.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Sattam Al-Lehiyani 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.
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Al-Wehda training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Augustine Oladapo 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.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Morato 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 15 in, 4 out at Al-Wehda
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 15 arrived, 4 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Al Wahda keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Khalfan Al Naqbi 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.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Al-Wehda offered $110.0K; Al-Fateh said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Khalfan Al Hashmi 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Al-Wehda are still strangers to each other
7 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
The dugout7 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match29 Aug 2026
0‑4 to Al-Ittihad, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $111.2K — a club that wants Faisal Darisi enough to be asked twice.
Market31 Aug 2026
Najran pay $810.0K, 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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
$100.0K on the table at Al-Fateh. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Al-Wehda asked and Al Wahda said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Al-Wehda
Khalfan Al Hashmi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout31 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Al-Wehda
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Augustine Oladapo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match22 Aug 2026
Chastening afternoon for Al-Wehda
A 0‑3 beating by Al-Ra'ed was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market24 Aug 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Al-Wehda have lost him in all but the paperwork.
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-Wehda can pretend not to have heard.
Market24 Aug 2026
Al-Wehda say no — this time
The offer from Al-Ra'ed for Mohammed Al-Qunayan 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Wehda
Abdullah Al-Owaishir 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Augustine Oladapo 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.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
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 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Abdullah Al-Otaibi to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Market17 Aug 2026
Najran come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Al-Wehda did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $1.9M — a club that wants Raghid Najjar enough to be asked twice.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with Al Ahli, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Al-Wehda
Abdullah Al-Owaishir and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Match15 Aug 2026
A 2‑1 win over Al-Khaleej, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Al-Wehda training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khalfan Al Hashmi 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.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A mark of 7.79, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Abdullah Al-Otaibi could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Al-Wehda people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market10 Aug 2026
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Najran had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
$1.5M on the table at Al-Nassr. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The deal with Al Shabab 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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Al Ahli is saying, and nobody at Al-Wehda is enjoying the guessing.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Abdullah Al-Owaishir 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Bandar Darwish again, and this time the name on the line is Najran. Al-Wehda are listening politely and promising nothing.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Hassan Al-Ahmadi 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Al-Wehda
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Augustine Oladapo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Peter Olayinka and Al-Wehda agree another 3 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
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-Wehda this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market3 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Mohammed Al-Qunayan again, and this time the name on the line is Najran. Al-Wehda are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Al-Wehda training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Augustine Oladapo 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Al-Wehda, another week without a signature from Ali Adnan.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Al-Wehda have made the call to Al Shabab. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.