Grégoire Defrel 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 watch every Cittadella game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Juve Stabia runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Alex Redolfi has his answer from Cittadella; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
He is 22 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.
Marked 7.98 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Cittadella had the best player on the pitch.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Andrea Ghezzi 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cittadella 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 Alex Redolfi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 20 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Cittadella has been clear about where Alejo Sperdutti stands, which is more than many ever get.
“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 dugout25 Oct 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Tiago Gabriel'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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cittadella have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alex Redolfi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Salvatore Grassi after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Cittadella, and both men came out saying it was fine.
There were 87 minutes on the clock and Vicenza had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Cittadella did not stop to explain themselves.
6 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Grégoire Defrel 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.
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.
Vicenza made Cittadella work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Andrea Ghezzi 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.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Salvatore Grassi could afford to be generous.
Successful dribbles: 40. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cittadella this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at Cittadella training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alex Redolfi 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.
“I watch every Cittadella game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Pescara runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cittadella have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Mirko Antonucci 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.
10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 7 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
6 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cittadella have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Francesco D'Alessio is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Match18 Sep 2027
Another one collected away from home
4 on the bounce on the road for Cittadella. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Tiago Gabriel is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cittadella this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 4 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Alex Redolfi 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.
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cittadella can pretend not to have heard.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.32 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
4 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.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 19 signed and 9 gone
That is the business done at Cittadella 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.
At 22 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.
Grégoire Defrel 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.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.97 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
At 20 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.
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 Cittadella this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Damiano Menna has just signed for Cittadella, and for once the answer mattered.
“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 Cittadella, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Cittadella have done the hard part with Lazio, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The offer went to Sambenedettese 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.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Casarano have accepted the money. What Cittadella do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Tiago Gabriel is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
The name of Diego Falcinelli has come up in conversations Cittadella were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
$74.0K on the table at Sampdoria. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alex Redolfi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Cittadella asked and Carrarese said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Raffaele Cattaneo 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cittadella can pretend not to have heard.
At 28 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Cittadella asked and Latina said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mattia Gaddini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad9 Aug 2027
9 new faces, and Cittadella 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.
Cittadella have made the call to AC Milan. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Cittadella have done the hard part with Casarano, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cittadella 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 Alex Redolfi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Emanuele Anastasia has his answer from Cittadella; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Torres keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Francesco Amatucci 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 offer went to Carrarese 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Lecce have kept their man, and Cittadella go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alex Redolfi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Grégoire Defrel signs something — a contract at Cittadella or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutElías Peralta asks for a word with the manager
The dugoutJoseph Ekuban has become a man the manager trusts
The offer from Lumezzane for Davis Mensah 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.
The name of Diego Falcinelli has come up in conversations Cittadella were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The offer went to Lecce 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.
The chase for Youssouph Sylla ended with $510.0K changing hands and Latina out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Grégoire Defrel 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.
Cittadella asked and Valladolid said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
At 31 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
“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.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
$440.0K settles it between the clubs for Claudio Morra
Vicenza have accepted the money. What Cittadella do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cittadella have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
$600.0K was the most the club would pay and Lecce 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.
Grégoire Defrel 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.
$10.0K on the table at Virtus Verona. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alex Redolfi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Catanzaro waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Cittadella is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Federico Casolari and Cittadella agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Mirko Antonucci 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 now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Pisa have kept their man, and Cittadella go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Cittadella training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alex Redolfi 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.
32 appearances and 0 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.
“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 Cittadella know it.
The name of Francesco Amatucci has come up in conversations Cittadella were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alessandro Zanellati will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Cittadella the goodbyes have quietly begun.
At 22 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 fee is $290.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Salernitana drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Francesco Amatucci 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.
Cittadella asked and AC Milan said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Cittadella have made the call to Carrarese. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Cittadella will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Cittadella people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer went to Lecce 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cittadella this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Cittadella offered $430.0K; Inter 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ascoli have kept their man, and Cittadella go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Cittadella training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alex Redolfi 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Cittadella will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
78 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Guidonia Montecelio waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Cittadella is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
$430.0K on the table at Inter. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
$580.0K was the most the club would pay and Lecce 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.
Grégoire Defrel 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.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Cittadella know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 35 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cittadella can pretend not to have heard.
Mirko Antonucci 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 easiest signature of my career.” Francesco D'Alessio and Cittadella agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The phone has started ringing about Luca Maniero again, and this time the name on the line is Forli. Cittadella are listening politely and promising nothing.
Promotion, confirmed and mathematical, and a town that will not sleep much tonight. Whatever else this season had in it, it ends a division higher than it began.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cittadella will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Grégoire Defrel signs something — a contract at Cittadella or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cittadella will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Cittadella is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Grégoire Defrel 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 Alex Redolfi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Cittadella, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cittadella will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alessandro Zanellati will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Cittadella the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Mirko Antonucci and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Cittadella training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alex Redolfi 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cittadella will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Mirko Antonucci 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Cittadella can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Boardroom10 May 2027
106% of the income goes out in wages at Cittadella
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.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Cittadella know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Cittadella. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
In brief
The dugoutJoseph Ekuban knocks on the manager's door
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 56 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Cittadella will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.08 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
In brief
Player ratingsDavide Castelli was on a different afternoon to everybody else
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 63 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Luca Maniero will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Cittadella the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cittadella this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Cittadella training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alex Redolfi 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Cittadella will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Cittadella is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Grégoire Defrel 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.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 6 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Cittadella pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cittadella will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
6 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.
Grégoire Defrel and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Cittadella training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alex Redolfi 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 fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
In brief
Player ratingsDavide Castelli was on a different afternoon to everybody else
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 86 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Davide Castelli provided it, and the 9.32 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Federico Casolari provided it, and the 8.42 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
5 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cittadella this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals in one match, Federico Casolari on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Cittadella and Trento.
It finished 4‑2, and it was Federico Casolari’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Cittadella.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Alex Redolfi 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 60 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.97 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
4 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Cittadella is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Salvatore Grassi could afford to be generous.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Cittadella will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.42 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alessandro Zanellati will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Cittadella the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cittadella 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 Alex Redolfi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 74 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Mirko Antonucci 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.
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Cittadella did not have in the autumn.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Alex Redolfi 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mirko Antonucci. 1‑0 against Arzignano, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Cittadella has been clear about where Diego Falcinelli stands, which is more than many ever get.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 81 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.38 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Alejo Sperdutti has, at Cittadella, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
It finished 3‑1, and it was Grégoire Defrel’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Cittadella.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Davide Castelli was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.88. 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.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cittadella will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Cittadella, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Cittadella is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Grégoire Defrel 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 Alex Redolfi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Cittadella will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Cittadella is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cittadella have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Grégoire Defrel 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.
16 goals and a season average of 7.24 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words at Cittadella training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alex Redolfi 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.
Minute 93, against Vicenza, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cittadella will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“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 Cittadella, and it is not being withdrawn.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.90 for the rest of it.
Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Cittadella training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nahuel Iribarren 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Salvatore Grassi could afford to be generous.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Cittadella will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Vis Pesaro waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Cittadella is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Cittadella ran out of time with Forli. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Mirko Antonucci 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 Alex Redolfi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Cittadella will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Cittadella have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Position 2, 44 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.
Cittadella and Forli have settled on $2.0M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.77 for the rest of it.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Cittadella close the window on a squad of their own making
2 in and 0 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.
The name of Andrea Ghezzi has come up in conversations Cittadella were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 125 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
At 2 goals adrift this was a formality, and the formality lasted right up until it did not. Cittadella found something the first half had given no notice of, and Renate could not hold what they had.
Two goals and a mark of 9.46 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Grégoire Defrel provided it, and the 9.18 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
6 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.
The name of Alessandro Zanellati has come up in conversations Cittadella were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cittadella this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Cittadella will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
11 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
The deal with Sassuolo 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.
Mirko Antonucci 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
Alex Redolfi 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.
Cittadella asked and AS Roma 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 bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Cittadella will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Cittadella have lost him in all but the paperwork.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Grégoire Defrel provided it, and the 8.92 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The offer from Andorra for Francesco Amatucci 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.
“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 Cittadella, and it is not being withdrawn.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Elías Peralta has just signed for Cittadella, and for once the answer mattered.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
The offer went to Carrarese 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cittadella this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadAlex Redolfi falls out with a teammate over standards
“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 Cittadella, and it is not being withdrawn.
Position 3, 35 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.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Cittadella will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.92 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The name of Alessandro Zanellati has come up in conversations Cittadella were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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.
10 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Grégoire Defrel 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 Alex Redolfi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Cittadella, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Francesco Amatucci signs something — a contract at Cittadella or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nobody at Cittadella 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 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 Giulio Frisenna has written the date down.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.83 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Mirko Antonucci 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Nicolás Figal 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.
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
At 22 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alessandro Zanellati will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Cittadella the goodbyes have quietly begun.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.87 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
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.
Mirko Antonucci 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
Nicolás Figal 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.
8 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Grégoire Defrel. 1‑0 against AlbinoLeffe, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Position 3, 26 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.
Mirko Antonucci 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 Cittadella training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alex Redolfi 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Davis Mensah is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Federico Casolari scored, was marked 7.95, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
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 Cittadella this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Cittadella and Pro Vercelli, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolás Figal 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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.13 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Mirko Antonucci 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Nicolás Figal 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.
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.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Salvatore Grassi, on a 3‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Cittadella they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Mirko Antonucci 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 Cittadella training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alex Redolfi 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.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
18 combined actions and 7.22. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolás Figal was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 22 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 91. Alcione Milano had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
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. Grégoire Defrel provided it, and the 9.10 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cittadella this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Cittadella training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Figal 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.
Marked 8.58. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Cittadella.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
128% of the income goes out in wages at Cittadella
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.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Cittadella told Nicolás Figal something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
Mirko Antonucci 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 Alex Redolfi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alessandro Zanellati will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Cittadella the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.82 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Mirko Antonucci 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Cittadella training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Figal 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.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolás Figal was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Minute 97, against Vicenza, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Squad12 Oct 2026
13 new faces, and Cittadella 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 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.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 85th, and Lecco spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cittadella this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Alex Redolfi 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.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
164% of the income goes out in wages at Cittadella
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Davide Castelli. 1‑0 against Lecco, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Davide Castelli at his very best
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Luca Maniero: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Mirko Antonucci 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Alex Redolfi 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alessandro Zanellati will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Cittadella the goodbyes have quietly begun.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.17 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Mirko Antonucci 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 board was up, the win was priced in, and then Triestina scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Cittadella training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luca Verna 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.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Salvatore Grassi after the 2‑2 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
1 for Francesco Amatucci, marked 7.94, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alex Redolfi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Davide Castelli. 2‑1 against Renate, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Cittadella have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Cittadella close the window on a squad of their own making
15 in and 3 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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Torino keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cittadella this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Alex Redolfi 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.
Cittadella asked and Cremonese said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Cittadella know which stage they are at.
Squad7 Sep 2026
13 new faces, and Cittadella 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 one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cittadella can pretend not to have heard.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Cittadella have done the hard part with Boca Juniors, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Mirko Antonucci 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Vasco da Gama have kept their man, and Cittadella go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Cittadella training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luca Verna 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 dugout31 Aug 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 1‑2 Salvatore Grassi left the room before anybody could ask which.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Boca Juniors is saying, and nobody at Cittadella is enjoying the guessing.
Mirko Antonucci 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.
Como paid $570.0K and Cittadella took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Alex Redolfi 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.
Cittadella asked and Cremonese said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Cittadella have made the call to Boca Juniors. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The plan went upstairs and came back down. Nothing about that will make a headline anywhere else, and everybody who works at the training ground will remember it for years.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Virtus Entella is saying, and nobody at Cittadella is enjoying the guessing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Alex Redolfi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boca Juniors 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.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Cittadella would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Napoli is saying, and nobody at Cittadella is enjoying the guessing.
Mirko Antonucci 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Massimo Sanna 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Diego Riva 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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Cittadella heard it as anything else.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mirko Antonucci and Cittadella agree another 4 years.
Grégoire Defrel 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.
Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mirko Antonucci was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Cittadella asked and Cremonese said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.