“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ferencvaros have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Ferencvaros heard it as anything else.
Vinicius Tobias and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at Ferencvaros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ádám Nagy is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ujpest have kept their man, and Ferencvaros go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Nobody at Ferencvaros will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ferencvaros know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ferencvaros have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 The request is on a desk at Ferencvaros, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Ferencvaros close the window on a squad of their own making
2 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.
The offer from Pianese for Gergő Rácz 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.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Ferencvaros can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Mariano Gómez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ujpest have kept their man, and Ferencvaros go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vinicius Tobias was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Georges-Kévin Nkoudou had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ferencvaros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ujpest have kept their man, and Ferencvaros go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Florent Hadergjonaj was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The deal that would have taken Toon Raemaekers to Haladas has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Ferencvaros with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Ferencvaros have gone to MTK Budapest 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.
Dénes Dibusz was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ádám Nagy was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Ferencvaros know which stage they are at.
Nobody at Ferencvaros 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.
Ferencvaros and Al-Ettifaq have settled on $8.5M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $18.2M has been paid because Vinicius Tobias is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Philippe Rommens had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Ferencvaros have paid $3.2M for Georges-Kévin Nkoudou, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Georges-Kévin Nkoudou has, at Ferencvaros, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Ferencvaros offered $1.0M; Debrecen 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.
Puskas Akademia pay $1.0M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Dénes Dibusz and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The offer went to Shakhtar 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.
Al-Diriyah have accepted the money. What Ferencvaros do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
$7.5M on the table at Al-Ettifaq. 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 kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Ferencvaros had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ferencvaros can pretend not to have heard.
Two goals and a mark of 9.51 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 60 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ferencvaros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Ferencvaros will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Veljko Birmančević. 4‑3 against Puskas Akademia, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
7 goals in one match, Veljko Birmančević on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Ferencvaros and Puskas Akademia.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ferencvaros 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 Ádám Nagy was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Naby Keïta. 2‑1 against Bekescsaba, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Jonathan Levi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.24. 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.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Cadu was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.21. 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.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Naby Keïta was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.09. 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.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Zsombor Gruber. 3‑1 against Honved, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Akos Lang is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
6 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Ferencvaros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ádám Nagy 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.
Honved next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
2‑0 against Dila, and a performance that will be described to people who were not there for the rest of the season. Veljko Birmančević was at the centre of the description.
Two goals and a mark of 8.61 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Mariano Gómez wants continental football; whether Ferencvaros can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
5 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ferencvaros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Dénes Dibusz 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.
Match21 Nov 2026
Another one collected away from home
4 on the bounce on the road for Ferencvaros. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Florent Hadergjonaj was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Two goals and a mark of 9.47 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Dénes Dibusz 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.
6 goals in one match, Franko Kovačević on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Ferencvaros and Debrecen.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ádám Nagy was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Marked 8.27 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ferencvaros will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
41 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
0‑2 against Legia. Continental football is unforgiving about the things a domestic league lets a side get away with, and this was a night spent finding out which of those the club still has.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Roland Nikolic 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Ferencvaros will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Veljko Birmančević provided it, and the 9.62 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
Mariano Gómez 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.
3‑0 against Legia, and a performance that will change how the rest of the competition talks about this club. Reputations in continental football are built in single evenings and this was one.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 37 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
7.54, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ferencvaros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
95 minutes played. Kristoffer Zachariassen found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Diosgyor went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Successful dribbles: 28. 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ferencvaros have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Dénes Dibusz and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Ferencvaros will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Janos Botka has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Dominik Szalai 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.
2‑1 against Sion, 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.
Bekescsaba will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Ferencvaros were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Veljko Birmančević scored in the 85th minute, Sion had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Ferencvaros took the lot.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ferencvaros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
9.53. 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Ferencvaros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ádám Nagy is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Ferencvaros can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Dénes Dibusz 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 board was up, the win was priced in, and then Honved scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
2‑1 against Dila, 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 9.25 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Dénes Dibusz and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mariano Gómez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 21 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Franko Kovačević. 2‑0 against Fehervar, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Ferencvaros will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 90th minute. Vasas will replay every second of the added time for a week.
19 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Mariano Gómez 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Istvan Bese is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Marton Szalai is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Ferencvaros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Florent Hadergjonaj 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 a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Philippe Rommens provided it, and the 8.32 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 17 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Mariano Gómez 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.
Ferencvaros asked and Fehervar said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
8.65. 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.
Ferencvaros have gone to Paksi 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. MTK Budapest have kept their man, and Ferencvaros go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Dénes Dibusz 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Ferencvaros training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mariano Gómez 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.
8.25. 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.
“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.
“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 Ferencvaros, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Paksi have kept their man, and Ferencvaros go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Dénes Dibusz and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Ádám Varga had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
The fee is $1.9M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Diosgyor drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
The offer from Neman for Zsombor Gruber 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.
Ferencvaros asked and Debrecen said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Add another name to the list: Benevento have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Philippe Rommens. The answer from Ferencvaros has not changed — yet.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 85th, and Ujpest spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Antalyaspor had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The offer from IFK Norrkoping for Jonathan Levi 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.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Zsombor Gruber, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.95
A mark of 7.95 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
The offer went to Diosgyor 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.
Dénes Dibusz 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.
Diosgyor will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Ferencvaros were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Two goals and a mark of 8.88 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Ferencvaros asked and Stade Brestois said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Add another name to the list: IFK Norrkoping have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Jonathan Levi. The answer from Ferencvaros has not changed — yet.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Mariano Gómez wants continental football; whether Ferencvaros can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Veljko Birmančević and Ferencvaros agree another 4 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ferencvaros this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Ferencvaros training over how hard people work