0‑0. Continental football is where a club finds out what it actually is, and Fenerbahce came through the finding-out well against Universitatea Craiova.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Fenerbahce have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.68 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Ederson 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 19 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Nathan Aké 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.
At 25 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.
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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Fenerbahce heard it as anything else.
The deal that would have taken Tarık Çetin to Basaksehir has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Fenerbahce with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Fenerbahce this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Adnan Efe Fettahoğlu is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Level with 95 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Fenerbahce had all but put away. Gaziantep will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The words a physio says slowly. 14 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Anthony Musaba provided it, and the 8.88 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Alaettin Ekici is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 11 signed and 8 gone
That is the business done at Fenerbahce 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.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Anthony Musaba. 2‑1 against Basaksehir, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Fenerbahce lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and OH Leuven waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Fenerbahce is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Fenerbahce have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The offer from Basaksehir for Tarık Çetin 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.
At 19 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.
Squad30 Aug 2027
Words at Fenerbahce training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nathan Aké 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 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Fenerbahce lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.76 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Ederson was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Fenerbahce and Sivasspor in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Anthony Musaba at his very best
41 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Fenerbahce lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Umraniyespor will want this one forgotten quickly: 6‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Fenerbahce were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
A brace, and Romelu Lukaku takes the afternoon — 9.22
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Romelu Lukaku provided it, and the 9.22 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
A new deal for the man in the dugout, and the clearest thing a board can say without calling a press conference about it. Stability is cheap to promise and expensive to deliver.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Fenerbahce this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
49 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Fenerbahce lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Fenerbahce have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
The phone has started ringing about Levent Mercan again, and this time the name on the line is Umraniyespor. Fenerbahce are listening politely and promising nothing.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Fenerbahce, and both men came out saying it was fine.
59 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Fenerbahce lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The phone has started ringing about Saba Kharebashvili again, and this time the name on the line is Hapoel Acre. Fenerbahce are listening politely and promising nothing.
Nobody at Fenerbahce 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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
69 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Fenerbahce lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Ederson 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 name of İrfan Can Kahveci has come up in conversations Fenerbahce were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Fenerbahce training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nathan Aké is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
“I watch every Fenerbahce game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Konyaspor runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
78 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Fenerbahce lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Fenerbahce this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nathan Aké was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
86 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Fenerbahce lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Zadar had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Ederson and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words at Fenerbahce training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milan Škriniar 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 interest is real enough to have reached print. Fenerbahce have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad12 Jul 2027
10 new faces, and Fenerbahce 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.
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.
95 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Fenerbahce lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fenerbahce asked and Alanyaspor said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The offer from Gostaresh Foulad for Saba Kharebashvili 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Emin Eren Sayar is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Fenerbahce hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nathan Aké was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
104 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Fenerbahce lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Gaziantep have kept their man, and Fenerbahce go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Saba Kharebashvili has just signed for Fenerbahce, and for once the answer mattered.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Saba Kharebashvili is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Ederson 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.
14 goals in 36 games at Kasimpasa — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Fenerbahce updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
In brief
The dugoutNathan Aké is still being punished for one mistake
Position 3, 84 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Konyaspor have kept their man, and Fenerbahce go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The offer went to Basaksehir 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 Fenerbahce this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Milan Škriniar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
$16.6M on the table at Konyaspor. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Fenerbahce offered $15.1M; Alanyaspor 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.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Konyaspor waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Fenerbahce is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Fenerbahce heard it as anything else.
With 10 players away on international duty the sessions are small and the manager can actually hear himself. It is the one break in the season, and it never quite feels like one.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
The offer went to Real Madrid 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.
Fenerbahce have gone to Alanyaspor with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Basaksehir have kept their man, and Fenerbahce go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Fenerbahce heard it as anything else.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 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.
Add another name to the list: Zaragoza have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Rey Manaj. The answer from Fenerbahce has not changed — yet.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Fenerbahce training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milan Škriniar 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.
Qualification is secured, and next season the big floodlit nights are continental ones. For the players it is a stage; for the accounts it is a lifeline; for the supporters it is passports.
Ederson 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Adnan Efe Fettahoğlu is 18, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Fenerbahce training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milan Škriniar 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.
14 goals in 36 games at Kasimpasa — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Fenerbahce updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Nobody at Fenerbahce 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kojo Peprah Oppong trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
In brief
MarketA year in the wrong dressing room for Tarık Çetin
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Fenerbahce this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Fenerbahce training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dorgéles Néné is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nobody at Fenerbahce 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.
35 appearances at an average of 6.13. The minutes were the point and he is getting them, which makes the numbers harder to explain away rather than easier.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Vedat Muriqi has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
In brief
SquadNathan Aké is the talk of the training ground
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Fenerbahce heard it as anything else.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Fenerbahce training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milan Škriniar is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Fenerbahce this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Fenerbahce will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
Muhammed Şengezer 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.
Nobody at Fenerbahce 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.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
35 appearances at Istanbulspor and the goals have stopped going in. Fenerbahce lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Fenerbahce will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Ederson 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.
14 goals in 36 games at Kasimpasa — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Fenerbahce updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
A point taken on 89 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
The dugout3 May 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Nathan Aké'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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Fenerbahce will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Fenerbahce 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 Milan Škriniar 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. Fenerbahce will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Two goals and a mark of 9.21 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.51 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Fenerbahce this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Fenerbahce training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milan Škriniar is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Umut Demiral 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Fenerbahce will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Istanbulspor will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Fenerbahce were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
20 goals in 35 games at Norwich City — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Fenerbahce updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Ederson 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 version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.91, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Vedat Muriqi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.91. 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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Milan Škriniar is on it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Fenerbahce will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Ederson 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Fenerbahce training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milan Škriniar is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Halil Ozdemir after 1‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody at Fenerbahce will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Fenerbahce will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
18 goals in 33 games at Norwich City — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Fenerbahce updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Fenerbahce heard it as anything else.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Fenerbahce training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milan Škriniar is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Fenerbahce this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Trabzonspor next, which means a week that starts on Monday. Everything else on this page will be forgotten by Saturday; this fixture will not be forgotten for a year.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Fenerbahce will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
With 12 players away on international duty the sessions are small and the manager can actually hear himself. It is the one break in the season, and it never quite feels like one.
The first defeat in 8 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Konyaspor; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dorgéles Néné was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom22 Mar 2027
Nobody left the Fenerbahce dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Fenerbahce will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
2‑1 against Racing Genk, and a performance that will be described to people who were not there for the rest of the season. Kerem Aktürkoğlu was at the centre of the description.
Giresunspor will want this one forgotten quickly: 6‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Fenerbahce were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
8 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 board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 95th minute. Racing Genk will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
A brace, and Romelu Lukaku takes the afternoon — 9.63
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Romelu Lukaku provided it, and the 9.63 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
In brief
The dugoutMert Günok: that is not what I was promised
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 100 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. Kerem Aktürkoğlu provided it, and the 9.24 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.34 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.32 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Fenerbahce and Fatih Karagumruk, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
4 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.
2‑0 against Racing Genk, under lights, against people who do not speak the same language as the crowd. These are the evenings a club measures its decade in, and there are never as many of them as anybody expects.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.47 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Fenerbahce this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
2‑1 against Besiktas, and the songs went on long after the whistle. League positions come and go; days like this get retold at family dinners for years.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Fenerbahce scored in the 92th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Score against anybody else and it is a goal. Score against them and it is a story with your name in it for a decade, and Fenerbahce supporters have already started telling it.
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.
Ederson 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.
“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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Dorgéles Néné 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.
In brief
SquadGetting past Ederson has become the hardest job in the division
The dugoutRomelu Lukaku has become a man the manager trusts
2‑1 against Galatasaray, and the songs went on long after the whistle. League positions come and go; days like this get retold at family dinners for years.
$12.6M was the most the club would pay and Besiktas 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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Fenerbahce heard it as anything else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Milan Škriniar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
Loan watchThe goals keep arriving from Anthony Musaba’s exile
The offer went to Besiktas 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.89 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Position 3, 62 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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.21 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Fenerbahce close the window on a squad of their own making
1 in and 2 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.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Fenerbahce hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
In brief
SquadMilan Škriniar falls out with a teammate over standards
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Besiktas have kept their man, and Fenerbahce go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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 Fenerbahce, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Fenerbahce this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 8 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Fenerbahce training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dorgéles Néné 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.
8 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kerem Aktürkoğlu provided it, and the 9.18 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The fee is $11.9M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Sivasspor drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Konyaspor have kept their man, and Fenerbahce go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Rey Manaj is living that version at Fenerbahce, and it tends to show in the first month.
Ederson 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.
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Fenerbahce have 7 straight wins of it.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
A brace, and Romelu Lukaku takes the afternoon — 9.29
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Romelu Lukaku provided it, and the 9.29 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
$11.9M on the table at Sivasspor. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Mason Greenwood was one of the reasons people came, and $67.1M does not replace that by itself.
Ederson 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Fenerbahce training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milan Škriniar 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 offer from AS Roma for Mason Greenwood 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.
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.
Fenerbahce asked and Basaksehir 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 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.31 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Fenerbahce have had the benefit of it.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 10.00 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
5 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 Fenerbahce this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
4‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
A brace, and Vedat Muriqi takes the afternoon — 9.33
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Vedat Muriqi provided it, and the 9.33 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
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.
Muhammed Şengezer 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.
In brief
Player ratingsAn own goal to forget for Levent Mercan
The dugoutEderson has become a man the manager trusts
3‑0 against Podbrezova, on a night that will be replayed at this club for a generation. Continental reputations are made in single evenings and this was the evening.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Fenerbahce scored in the 98th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
A brace, and Romelu Lukaku takes the afternoon — 9.51
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Romelu Lukaku provided it, and the 9.51 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Two goals and a mark of 9.29 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.38 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
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: Vedat Muriqi. 2‑0 against Ankaragucu, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Vedat Muriqi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.05. 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.
1‑1 against Liverpool, under lights, against people who do not speak the same language as the crowd. These are the evenings a club measures its decade in, and there are never as many of them as anybody expects.
Two goals and a mark of 9.23 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.87 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Fenerbahce this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 goals in one match, Mason Greenwood on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Fenerbahce and Istanbulspor.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Fenerbahce training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Milan Škriniar 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Fenerbahce have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Ederson 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Fenerbahce and Trabzonspor, 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 Dorgéles Néné 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.” Halil Ozdemir after 1‑5, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Sander Svendsen provided it, and the 9.11 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Fenerbahce have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 8 goals between Fenerbahce and Hatayspor, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
4‑2 against Javor-Matis, and a performance that will be described to people who were not there for the rest of the season. Romelu Lukaku was at the centre of the description.
9 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.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
A brace, and Dorgéles Néné takes the afternoon — 9.04
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Dorgéles Néné provided it, and the 9.04 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Two goals and a mark of 9.01 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Position 3, 31 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.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Fenerbahce and Javor-Matis in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Milan Škriniar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Giresunspor will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Fenerbahce were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
7 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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Fenerbahce heard it as anything else.
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Dorgéles Néné 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.
5‑0. Nights like this are why clubs spend decades trying to qualify for this competition, and they arrive perhaps twice in that time. Everybody who was in the ground will describe it badly for years.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kerem Aktürkoğlu provided it, and the 9.38 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.59 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Milan Škriniar 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mason Greenwood provided it, and the 9.08 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Milan Škriniar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Chances created: 13. Not on the scoresheet and not remotely anonymous — a passing performance that pulled a defence apart without leaving a mark on the column that gets read.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Fenerbahce hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
At 19 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.
With 9 players away on international duty the sessions are small and the manager can actually hear himself. It is the one break in the season, and it never quite feels like one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dorgéles Néné was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Fenerbahce will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Milan Škriniar signs something — a contract at Fenerbahce or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Fatih Karagumruk next, and one man in the Fenerbahce dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
3‑0. Nights like this are why clubs spend decades trying to qualify for this competition, and they arrive perhaps twice in that time. Everybody who was in the ground will describe it badly for years.
Score against anybody else and it is a goal. Score against them and it is a story with your name in it for a decade, and Fenerbahce supporters have already started telling 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 Fenerbahce this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 18 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Derby days make names, and Romelu Lukaku made his against Galatasaray. 3‑1, bragging rights secured, and one half of town will be tired of hearing about him by Tuesday.
There are goals, and then there are goals against that particular opponent. The Fenerbahce support have their bragging rights for a year and they know exactly whose name is on them.
Ederson 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 a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 17 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nothing about the week ahead is ordinary. Besiktas on Saturday, a town that has already started talking about it, and a dressing room that does not need telling what it means.
Squad28 Sep 2026
9 new faces, and Fenerbahce are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Nobody's fault and entirely his: a goal that goes into the book with his name against it and nothing about it intended. Fenerbahce deserved better, and so did he.
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.
0‑1 away to the standard of Liverpool. Nobody will pretend this was a scandal; the gap is real, it is measurable, and closing it is a project rather than a team talk.
Two goals and a mark of 8.38 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Dorgéles Néné 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.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Fenerbahce hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Milan Škriniar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Romelu Lukaku in the middle of it, and Gaziantep unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Fenerbahce this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fenerbahce close the window on a squad of their own making
14 in and 4 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Milan Škriniar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The training ground goes quiet for a fortnight. 8 men have gone off to be somebody else’s players, and the manager is left with the ones nobody has called.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Kojo Peprah Oppong had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Ederson 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alaettin Ekici, and the manager let it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Dorgéles Néné 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 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
15 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
The fee is $16.5M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Konyaspor drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The chase for Muhammed Şengezer ended with $4.4M changing hands and Basaksehir out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.21 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Muhammed Şengezer has just signed for Fenerbahce, and for once the answer mattered.
The offer went to Konyaspor 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 offer went to Basaksehir 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.
Fenerbahce asked and Basaksehir said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
$5.9M was the most the club would pay and Konyaspor 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Alanyaspor have kept their man, and Fenerbahce go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mason Greenwood and Fenerbahce agree another 5 years.
Ederson 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Volkan Topcu is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dorgéles Néné was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Fenerbahce hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Fenerbahce 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 Milan Škriniar was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The phone has started ringing about Tarık Çetin again, and this time the name on the line is Istanbulspor. Fenerbahce are listening politely and promising nothing.