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.
Bunyodkor have received the call every well-run club eventually receives — somebody bigger has noticed Doniyor Suyunov. Saying no is easy; keeping him convinced is the actual work.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: PAOK keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The deal that would have taken Federico Botti to Sogdiana has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Bunyodkor with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Shohboz Umarov 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Bunyodkor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Pletnev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olimpia have kept their man, and Bunyodkor go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
80 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bunyodkor lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 0 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Bunyodkor until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Shohboz Umarov and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Bunyodkor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Najmiddin Normurodov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Dinamo Tbilisi have kept their man, and Bunyodkor go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Sogdiana will make the call about Federico Botti this week. Bunyodkor have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
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 Sardor Rahmonov is on it.
88 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bunyodkor lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Bunyodkor, and it is not being withdrawn.
Bunyodkor had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Astana, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Bunyodkor asked and Mashal said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A loan enquiry to Gimnasia y Tiro: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
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 Shohboz Umarov is on it.
95 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Bunyodkor lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The deal with Astana 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.
Shohboz Umarov 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Bunyodkor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Najmiddin Normurodov 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.
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 Nosirjon Abdusalomov is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Muzaffar Olimjonov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bunyodkor know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
102 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bunyodkor lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Shohboz Umarov 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Bogdan Odinayev is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Bunyodkor asked and KAMAZ said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Nobody at Bunyodkor 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matija Krivokapić signs something — a contract at Bunyodkor or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Bunyodkor, another week without a signature from Mirkomil Murodov.
110 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bunyodkor lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
The 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Patronato have kept their man, and Bunyodkor go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Bunyodkor have made the call to Estudiantes. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Shohboz Umarov signs something — a contract at Bunyodkor or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
The words a physio says slowly. 118 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Najmiddin Normurodov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
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 Shohboz Umarov is on it.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Bunyodkor. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
126 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Bunyodkor lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Shohboz Umarov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Boburbek Yo'ldoshev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Bunyodkor 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bunyodkor know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Shohboz Umarov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Boburbek Yo'ldoshev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Farruhjon Qodirov is on it.
Shohboz Umarov 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
Words at Bunyodkor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sardor Rahmonov 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.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Shohboz Umarov signs something — a contract at Bunyodkor or anywhere else — this column belongs to 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 Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Bunyodkor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Pletnev 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.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
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.
Shohboz Umarov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bunyodkor know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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.
Shohboz Umarov 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
Words at Bunyodkor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sardor Rahmonov 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Doniyor Suyunov after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Muzaffar Olimjonov will call it something else in private.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matija Krivokapić signs something — a contract at Bunyodkor or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Bunyodkor will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Shohboz Umarov 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 Bunyodkor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Pletnev 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Otabek Mirzaev has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Otabek Akhmedov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
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 Sardor Rahmonov is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Shohboz Umarov signs something — a contract at Bunyodkor or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Muzaffar Olimjonov has written the date down.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Bunyodkor will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Amir To'raqulov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
5 new faces, and Bunyodkor 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.
Nobody at Bunyodkor 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Bunyodkor will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bunyodkor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Shohboz Umarov 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
Words at Bunyodkor training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sardor Rahmonov 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.
Nobody at Bunyodkor 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Bunyodkor know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bunyodkor will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Bunyodkor have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Shohboz Umarov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitry Pletnev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Bunyodkor 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Bunyodkor will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Abdulla Ahmedov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Bunyodkor has been clear about where Federico Botti stands, which is more than many ever get.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Shohboz Umarov signs something — a contract at Bunyodkor or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A call-up flatters the player and the club that produced him in the same breath. Bunyodkor would like him back in one piece and know they will not be consulted.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Hojimat Erkinov has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Bunyodkor have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
14 new faces, and Bunyodkor 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Bilolxon Toshmirzayev is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Nobody at Bunyodkor 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Bunyodkor. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Sardor Abdunabiyev signs something — a contract at Bunyodkor or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Shohboz Umarov 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitry Pletnev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
8.07. 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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Shohboz Umarov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Amir To'raqulov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 dugout21 Sep 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 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Doniyor Suyunov to a room that had heard them before.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Shohboz Umarov provided it, and the 8.22 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ulugbek Masharipov 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 deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 16 arrived, 5 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Colón is saying, and nobody at Bunyodkor is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Najmiddin Normurodov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bunyodkor asked and Godoy Cruz said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
14 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.
In brief
SquadA place in the month's best eleven for Dmitry Pletnev
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.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Shohboz Umarov obliged against Nasaf. 2‑2 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Bunyodkor.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Bunyodkor can pretend not to have heard.
The deal with Colón 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.
Shohboz Umarov 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 chase for Javohir Abdujabborov ended with $27.0K changing hands and Navbahor out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Bunyodkor asked and Mashal said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Muhammadyusuf Sobirov: 3 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Shohboz Umarov 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 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.
Bunyodkor asked and San Miguel said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The hardest thing about being 18 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Sadriddin Hasanov did not need any: 8.04, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Obod did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $890.0K for Mirzo Ahmedov, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
$260.0K on the table at Navbahor. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Bunyodkor and Obod, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The offer from Tobol for Muzaffar Olimjonov 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.
Shohboz Umarov 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.
Bunyodkor asked and Andijon said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nosirjon Abdusalomov and Bunyodkor agree another 4 years.
Bukhara will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Kiril Todorov has pre-agreed a move to Bunyodkor, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Shohruh Suyunov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Bunyodkor this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sardor Rahmonov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
49 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.
11 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Bunyodkor has been clear about where Aleksandr Zevadinov stands, which is more than many ever get.