The fee is $1.8M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. OH Leuven drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Anderlecht have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The fee is $790.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Zulte Waregem drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anderlecht this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Konstantinos Karetsas is 19, and Anderlecht have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
A season average of 7.14 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Anderlecht know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Danylo Sikan 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 award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Anderlecht have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anderlecht this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Position 3, 39 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 28 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Danylo Sikan 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 9.90 — 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.
Marked 9.84 — 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anderlecht this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nathan-Dylan Saliba and Anderlecht agree another 5 years.
“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 Anderlecht hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Danylo Sikan 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 season average of 7.02 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Anderlecht know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anderlecht this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.04 — 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.
3‑1 against Standard Liege, and the songs went on long after the whistle. League positions come and go; days like this get retold at family dinners for years.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Anderlecht have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anderlecht this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 20 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Anderlecht, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
The terracesThe press have found their man in Danylo Sikan
Dries Mertens 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mario Stroeykens. 3‑2 against Lokeren, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 9.49 — 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.
Marked 8.75 — 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 45 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anderlecht this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.80 — 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.
Position 3, 22 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.
Dries Mertens was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anderlecht this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Danylo Sikan 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 8.66 — 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anderlecht this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 22 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Colin Coosemans knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against CSKA Moscow? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Dries Mertens 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 9.64 — 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.
Moussa Diarra 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 9.26 — 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Viktor Bjarki Daðason. 1‑0 against Charleroi, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Dries Mertens.
Dries Mertens 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 9.18 — 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.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Anderlecht have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anderlecht this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.07, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Marked 8.62 — 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Mario Stroeykens 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Anderlecht can pretend not to have heard.
Add another name to the list: KAA Gent have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Luis Vázquez. The answer from Anderlecht has not changed — yet.
Luis Vázquez 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 41 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
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.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anderlecht this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
1‑0 against Standard Liege, and the songs went on long after the whistle. League positions come and go; days like this get retold at family dinners for years.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Anderlecht this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Colin Coosemans and Anderlecht agree another 2 years.
Luis Vázquez 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mario Stroeykens. 2‑1 against Racing Genk, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Anderlecht, and both men came out saying it was fine.