From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Feb 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason ES Ben Aknoun will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad1 Feb 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 51 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The terraces1 Feb 2027
The mood at ES Ben Aknoun has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Pressure builds in the ES Ben Aknoun boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Market1 Feb 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at ES Ben Aknoun, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad1 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ES Ben Aknoun this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match30 Jan 2027
3 matches without a goal for ES Ben Aknoun
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at ES Ben Aknoun training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milton Martínez is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Jan 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 58 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.
Match25 Jan 2027
Position 15, 18 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad25 Jan 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Kheireddine Boussouf 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Milton Martínez falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad18 Jan 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 65 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Daylon Claasen 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.
Match16 Jan 2027
Paradou left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 2027
The words a physio says slowly. 72 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.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
Taoufik Ijrouten, 37, rolls back the years — 7.97
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.97 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad11 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ES Ben Aknoun this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Milton Martínez 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Jan 2027
80 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. ES Ben Aknoun lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match30 Dec 2026
A 1‑0 win over MC Alger, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
The terraces4 Jan 2027
The mood at ES Ben Aknoun has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Match30 Dec 2026
113 minutes played. Mohamed Messaoud Salem found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and MC Alger went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Market4 Jan 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
Pressure builds in the ES Ben Aknoun boardroom
The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Daylon Claasen 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at ES Ben Aknoun training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milton Martínez 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 terraces4 Jan 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Dec 2026
87 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. ES Ben Aknoun lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match28 Dec 2026
14 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Match26 Dec 2026
No end in sight to ES Ben Aknoun's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at ES Ben Aknoun has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad28 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ES Ben Aknoun this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Dec 2026
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at ES Ben Aknoun can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad28 Dec 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Dec 2026
94 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. ES Ben Aknoun lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match19 Dec 2026
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad21 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ES Ben Aknoun this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at ES Ben Aknoun training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milton Martínez 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Nassim Yattou
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
4.98 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
The words a physio says slowly. 102 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A muscle injury sidelines Mohamed Souibaâh for 15 days
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. ES Ben Aknoun will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
110 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. ES Ben Aknoun lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad7 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ES Ben Aknoun this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad30 Nov 2026
117 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. ES Ben Aknoun lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match30 Nov 2026
Position 15, 11 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad30 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” ES Ben Aknoun may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad30 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ES Ben Aknoun this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Milton Martínez falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 2026
Daylon Claasen 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
Words at ES Ben Aknoun training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milton Martínez 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.03 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad16 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ES Ben Aknoun this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Islam Chahrour
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad16 Nov 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. ES Ben Aknoun told Islam Chahrour something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match7 Nov 2026
11 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Nassim Yattou 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at ES Ben Aknoun training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milton Martínez 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Islam Chahrour asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match31 Oct 2026
10 matches without a win for ES Ben Aknoun
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around ES Ben Aknoun are no longer polite ones.
Match2 Nov 2026
4 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Kheireddine Boussouf 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Milton Martínez 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Fadi Arrache
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Fadi Arrache has come out of that comparison in the side, and ES Ben Aknoun have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Oct 2026
9 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad26 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ES Ben Aknoun this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match24 Oct 2026
0‑2 to MC Alger, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad26 Oct 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad26 Oct 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match17 Oct 2026
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Kheireddine Boussouf 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Milton Martínez falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Kheireddine Boussouf: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Match7 Oct 2026
ES Setif are out and ES Ben Aknoun go through, 1‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Match10 Oct 2026
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Daylon Claasen 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at ES Ben Aknoun training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milton Martínez 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Islam Chahrour, and the manager let it.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Twelve yards, a goalkeeper guessing, and it still did not go in. He will take the next one, and every soul in the ground will hold their breath.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match10 Oct 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match3 Oct 2026
5 matches without a win for ES Ben Aknoun
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around ES Ben Aknoun are no longer polite ones.
Match3 Oct 2026
5 matches without a goal for ES Ben Aknoun
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad5 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ES Ben Aknoun this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Dhayfallah Kadri is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 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.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 88% of everything ES Ben Aknoun earn
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
No end in sight to ES Ben Aknoun's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at ES Ben Aknoun has to find a result from somewhere.
Match26 Sep 2026
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Daylon Claasen 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
Words at ES Ben Aknoun training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milton Martínez 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.
Match26 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad28 Sep 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ES Ben Aknoun this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Sep 2026
3 matches without a goal for ES Ben Aknoun
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Milton Martínez 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
0‑1 to MC Oran, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Fateh Talah gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad21 Sep 2026
8 new faces, and ES Ben Aknoun 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad14 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Aymen Chaaraoui
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. ES Ben Aknoun lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Kheireddine Boussouf 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Abdeljalil Saâd 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Aziz Benabdi
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match12 Sep 2026
Olympique Akbou left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Sep 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Aymen Chaaraoui
22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. ES Ben Aknoun lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market7 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Kheireddine Boussouf 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Dhayfallah Kadri is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
3 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Milton Martínez 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ismail Mandi 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Nabil Soudani 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Mohamed Mandi 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Aug 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Aymen Chaaraoui
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. ES Ben Aknoun lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market31 Aug 2026
“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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Abdeljalil Saâd was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Aug 2026
Aymen Chaaraoui damages knee ligaments — 37 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 37 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what ES Ben Aknoun can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ES Ben Aknoun this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
Aymen Chaaraoui damages knee ligaments — 44 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 44 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and ES Ben Aknoun did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Daylon Claasen 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at ES Ben Aknoun training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milton Martínez 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Aymen Chaaraoui has his answer from ES Ben Aknoun; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Market17 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
Sizwe Mhlangu gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Sizwe Mhlangu has just signed for ES Ben Aknoun, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Daylon Claasen 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Mxolisi Mthiya commits to ES Ben Aknoun for another 3 years.
Market10 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Market10 Aug 2026
The clock runs on Mohamed Sylla's contract
48 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
7 new faces, and ES Ben Aknoun 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Nwanna Okechukwu has just signed for ES Ben Aknoun, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nassim Yattou commits to ES Ben Aknoun for another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at ES Ben Aknoun this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market3 Aug 2026
49 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Market3 Aug 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Dhayfallah Kadri has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at ES Ben Aknoun.