From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Feb 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market8 Feb 2027
Shakhter come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Astana did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Kairat keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad8 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 Astana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Astana asked and Shakhter 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 targets8 Feb 2027
A loan move for Filippo Alessio is in the works
Astana have made the call to Vicenza. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Feb 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Astana will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market1 Feb 2027
The phone has started ringing about Ivan Bašić again, and this time the name on the line is Shakhter. Astana are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Tempers go at Astana
Marin Tomasov 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 targets1 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Zhetysu have kept their man, and Astana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
A loan enquiry to Taraz: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Kairat have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Jan 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 43 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Market25 Jan 2027
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market25 Jan 2027
Astana may not be able to give Ivo Mammini what he wants
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Ivo Mammini wants continental football; whether Astana can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad18 Jan 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Astana will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Astana
Marin Tomasov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout18 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Jan 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Astana will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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.
Squad11 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 Astana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Karlo Bartolec has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Astana will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Astana, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Marin Tomasov plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jan 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Astana will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Astana
Marin Tomasov 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 dugout4 Jan 2027
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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Astana will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Squad4 Jan 2027
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Astana, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Dec 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Astana will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Astana
Marin Tomasov 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 dugout28 Dec 2026
When it matters, Ivo Mammini plays
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Astana will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Astana
Marin Tomasov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Dmitry Zheltukhin and Astana agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout21 Dec 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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Josip Čondrić, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Khalid Shakhtiev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 90 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Astana
Karlo Bartolec 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 Dec 2026
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Dmitry Zheltukhin has just signed for Astana, and for once the answer mattered.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Astana will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Astana
Karlo Bartolec and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Branimir Kalaica and Astana agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Astana
Marin Tomasov 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 dugout30 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.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
When it matters, Ivo Mammini plays
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match18 Nov 2026
The small margins put Astana out
Out, 2‑2 to Kairat, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Marked 7.86 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
The dugout23 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.
Market23 Nov 2026
Astana may not be able to give Ivo Mammini what he wants
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Ivo Mammini wants continental football; whether Astana can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Astana
Marin Tomasov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces23 Nov 2026
The crowd has taken to Ivo Mammini
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Match18 Nov 2026
Astana rescue it on 93 minutes
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 93. Kairat had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
The kick that got away from Ivo Mammini
Twelve yards, a goalkeeper guessing, and it still did not go in. He will take the next one, and every soul in the ground will hold their breath.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market16 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Astana is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad16 Nov 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 Astana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout16 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
International break empties Astana
4 call-ups is a compliment to the squad and a headache for the man running it. He will get them back in a fortnight, tired, in various states of repair.
The dugout16 Nov 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 Karlo Bartolec is on it.
The dugout16 Nov 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
Squad9 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Astana
Marin Tomasov 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 dugout9 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.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Khalid Shakhtiev, and the manager let it.
Market9 Nov 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout9 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 Astana, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market9 Nov 2026
The clock does Branimir Kalaica’s negotiating for him
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Astana could ask drops and the wages Branimir Kalaica can ask rise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 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 Astana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market2 Nov 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Ivan Bašić gets picked when it counts
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 Ivan Bašić is on it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The captaincy goes to Karlo Bartolec. It is not a job that wins matches, but a dressing room always notices who is given it.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Khalid Shakhtiev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Astana
Karlo Bartolec 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
7 new faces, and Astana are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Älibek Qasym has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Astana will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
In brief
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Market
The clock does Ivan Bašić’s negotiating for him
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The dugout
Ivan Bašić keeps his manager's vote
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Oct 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Branimir Kalaica will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Astana the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Astana
Karlo Bartolec 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
Karlo Bartolec has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Astana will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Astana
Marin Tomasov 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.
Market12 Oct 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Serikzhan Abiken 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.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Marin Tomasov gets picked when it counts
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 Marin Tomasov is on it.
The dugout12 Oct 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Astana that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Astana 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
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Astana
Marin Tomasov 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 dugout5 Oct 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 Astana, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Ivo Mammini moves up the pecking order
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Astana than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
When it matters, Ivan Bašić plays
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.
Market5 Oct 2026
The Ivan Bašić story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Ivan Bašić signs something — a contract at Astana or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The penny has dropped for Älibek Qasym
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Astana the difference is visible from the back of the stand.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Astana
Marin Tomasov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market28 Sep 2026
Astana may not be able to give Ivo Mammini what he wants
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Ivo Mammini wants continental football; whether Astana can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Transfer targets28 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olimpia have kept their man, and Astana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Too much change too quickly at Astana
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Älibek Qasym gets picked when it counts
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 Älibek Qasym is on it.
The dugout28 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
Market21 Sep 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Astana is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad21 Sep 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 Astana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets21 Sep 2026
Astana asked and APOEL said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Sep 2026
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Ivan Bašić reports back to Astana with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 18 in, 0 out at Astana
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 18 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Aktobe keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Astana
Karlo Bartolec and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Trento have kept their man, and Astana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout14 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Astana know which stage they are at.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Marin Tomasov gets picked when it counts
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 Marin Tomasov is on it.
Market14 Sep 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Sep 2026
2 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 35. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Match2 Sep 2026
Cup progress for Astana
A 0‑0 win over Ordabasy, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Market7 Sep 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
$280.0K settles it between the clubs for Ivan Ordets
Aktobe have accepted the money. What Astana do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Market7 Sep 2026
The name of Ivan Bašić has come up in conversations Astana were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market7 Sep 2026
Ivo Mammini arrives at Astana in a $430.0K statement of intent
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Astana have paid $430.0K for Ivo Mammini, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Andijon have kept their man, and Astana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Ivan Bašić has agreed terms with Shakhter for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
The clubs have shaken hands with Gimnasia La Plata; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Astana
Karlo Bartolec 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 targets31 Aug 2026
$180.0K was the most the club would pay and Ordabasy were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Astana asked and Aktobe 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
Too much change too quickly at Astana
6 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Yeldos Beysebekov and Astana agree another 3 years.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Astana will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
Ivan Bašić has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Astana will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market31 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Astana, another week without a signature from Khalid Shakhtiev.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 Aug 2026
Cup progress for Astana
A 2‑1 win over Taraz, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.82, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market24 Aug 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Branimir Kalaica will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Astana the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Market24 Aug 2026
Ivan Bašić 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 Astana can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at San Martín SJ is saying, and nobody at Astana is enjoying the guessing.
Squad24 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 Astana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
$210.0K was the most the club would pay and Aktobe were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
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.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Branimir Kalaica has agreed terms with Kairat for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Astana
Marin Tomasov 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 targets17 Aug 2026
Tobol wanted more than $280.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Astana asked and Tobol said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Kairat will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Luís Mata has pre-agreed a move to Astana, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad17 Aug 2026
46 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad17 Aug 2026
24 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
A loan move for Anas Alaoui is in the works
Astana have made the call to Lecco. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 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.
Transfer targets10 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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Ararat-Armenia is saying, and nobody at Astana is enjoying the guessing.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
$280.0K on the table at Tobol. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nikola Burić and Astana agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The offer went to Aktobe this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Astana
Marin Tomasov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Zhasūlan Zhūmashev has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Astana have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Yeldos Postnikov 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad3 Aug 2026
388 appearances across 14 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Astana know what they have.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Pakhtakor have kept their man, and Astana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Up for the corner, and Ivan Bašić delivers — 7.78
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Ivan Bašić scored, was marked 7.78, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Marin Tomasov commits to Astana for another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Astana
Marin Tomasov 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.
Match1 Aug 2026
Ivan Bašić scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Kairat, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
The dugout3 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
This league is too small for Älibek Qasym
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Astana will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Market3 Aug 2026
The clock runs on Karlo Bartolec's contract
36 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.