“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Racing Genk heard it as anything else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing Genk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Racing Genk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junya Ito 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.
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.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yira Sor will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Racing Genk the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Breel Embolo 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.
Defensive actions: 22, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Racing Genk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mousa Lukaku is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I watch every Racing Genk game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Bloemfontein Celtic runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Racing Genk, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
The dugoutSomebody else is better right now than Joris Kayembe
The offer from Standard Liege for Adrián Palacios 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.
“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 Racing Genk 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 Racing Genk 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 Junya Ito was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑4 defeat, delivered by Yannick Tielemans to a room that had heard them before.
The ambition story running backwards, and the one nobody tells: a footballer who wants a smaller ground, fewer cameras and a crowd that does not turn. It is not weakness and it is rarely reported as anything else.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Racing Genk people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Racing Genk, and it is not being withdrawn.
Racing Genk offered $3.6M; KV Kortrijk 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.
The most awkward business a club does is signing tomorrow's answer while today's is still in the building. Doğucan Haspolat comes from Westerlo for exactly that purpose, and the handover will not be discussed publicly by anybody.
Breel Embolo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom26 Jul 2027
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Racing Genk
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Junya Ito was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Jason Boyata has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Racing Genk can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Lokeren waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Racing Genk is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The clubs have shaken hands with Westerlo; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Racing Genk asked and KV Kortrijk said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Breel Embolo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Racing Genk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mousa Lukaku 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 name of Yari Vanderhallen has come up in conversations Racing Genk were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Daan Heymans signs something — a contract at Racing Genk or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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.
Racing Genk have gone to Anderlecht 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.
The offer from Lokeren for Tobias Lawal 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 Racing Genk can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Rafiu Durosinmi 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 Racing Genk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junya Ito 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.
At 26 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
“I did not go to Bloemfontein Celtic to sit and watch. I want to come back to Racing Genk and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
Racing Genk asked and Anderlecht said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing Genk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Racing Genk can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mujaid Sadick and Racing Genk agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Junya Ito falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Jusef Erabi is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
9 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Racing Genk can pretend not to have heard.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Anderlecht moved on, Tobias Lawal reports back to Racing Genk, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
The offer from Macarthur FC for Milan Roganović 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 Racing Genk can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Rafiu Durosinmi 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 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Carl Starfelt 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.
Racing Genk asked and Mouscron said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Waasland-Beveren paid $2.5M and Racing Genk took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Breel Embolo 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Mousa Lukaku has improved at 25, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Hendrik Van Crombrugge has left for OH Leuven in a $380.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Racing Genk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carl Starfelt 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 the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Adrián Palacios wants continental football; whether Racing Genk can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
The words a physio says slowly. 15 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Racing Genk can pretend not to have heard.
Racing Genk asked and OH Leuven said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
“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.
Breel Embolo 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 Jun 2027
Junya Ito 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.
22 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Racing Genk lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Racing Genk, and it is not being withdrawn.
$7.3M on the table at KV Oostende. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Racing Genk asked and KV Oostende said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Racing Genk heard it as anything else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing Genk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The name of Ken Nkuba has come up in conversations Racing Genk were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Racing Genk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carl Starfelt 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Adrián Palacios and Racing Genk agree another 4 years.
Breel Embolo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Racing Genk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carl Starfelt is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Noah Adedeji-Sternberg is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nikolas Sattlberger trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Breel Embolo 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Racing Genk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junya Ito is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Racing Genk, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Daan Heymans signs something — a contract at Racing Genk or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Matte Smets
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carl Starfelt 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Racing Genk, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Rafiu Durosinmi signs something — a contract at Racing Genk or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
48 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
In brief
Loan watchThe goals keep arriving from Jerry Afriyie’s exile
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Rafiu Durosinmi 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Junya Ito 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.
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 Ibrahima Sory Bangoura is on 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 Racing Genk, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
“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.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Yaimar Medina wants continental football; whether Racing Genk can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Racing Genk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junya Ito 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.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Racing Genk than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
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.
“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 Racing Genk, and it is not being withdrawn.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Mousa Lukaku wants continental football; whether Racing Genk can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Breel Embolo 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.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Carl Starfelt 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 was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Racing Genk has been clear about where Joris Kayembe stands, which is more than many ever get.
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 Racing Genk, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Daan Heymans signs something — a contract at Racing Genk or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Breel Embolo and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Racing Genk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carl Starfelt 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 Racing Genk 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Racing Genk, and both men came out saying it was fine.
48 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
Rafiu Durosinmi 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 Apr 2027
Words at Racing Genk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Junya Ito is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Racing Genk, and 4 appearances in 34 say he has earned the hearing.
Nobody at Racing Genk 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. Racing Genk know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Joris Kayembe has written the date down.
Sharpest man there all week, by every account. It is the quietest line on this page and it usually runs the week before somebody’s run in the side begins.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing Genk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Racing Genk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carl Starfelt is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Racing Genk, and 7 appearances in 12 say he has earned the hearing.
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 Noah Adedeji-Sternberg is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jeppe Erenbjerg trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matte Smets signs something — a contract at Racing Genk or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Racing Genk. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The least glamorous thing a foreign signing ever does and the one that decides most of them. A player who can hear the shout behind him is a different footballer from one who cannot.
“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 Racing Genk, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carl Starfelt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Racing Genk are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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 Ken Nkuba is on it.
In brief
The dugoutYira Sor asks for a word with the manager
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Breel Embolo wants continental football; whether Racing Genk can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing Genk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Junya Ito 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.
4 call-ups is a compliment to the squad and a headache for the man running it. He will get them back in a fortnight, tired, in various states of repair.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Racing Genk, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Yaimar Medina is on it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Racing Genk have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Breel Embolo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Carl Starfelt 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Racing Genk, and 2 appearances in 30 say he has earned the hearing.
In brief
The dugoutBreel Embolo knocks on the manager’s door
“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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing Genk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Carl Starfelt 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.
“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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Kevin Amaro
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Kevin Amaro has come out of that comparison in the side, and Racing Genk have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“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.
Breel Embolo 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 general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matte Smets was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Ken Nkuba is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nikolas Sattlberger trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Racing Genk can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing Genk 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 Carl Starfelt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Yira Sor has his answer from Racing Genk; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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 Yaimar Medina is on it.
One weekend, judged against everybody else's. Rafiu Durosinmi has come out on top of it, and for most footballers a weekly award is the only silverware a career ever produces.
48 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Yannick Lukaku did not need any: 7.92, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.06 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
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.
Breel Embolo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Racing Genk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carl Starfelt 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Racing Genk have lost him in all but the paperwork.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Rafiu Durosinmi provided it, and the 8.77 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Racing Genk will try again when the window opens; Hull City may not be selling by then.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Yannick Lukaku, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.44
A mark of 8.44 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 deal that would have taken Hendrik Van Crombrugge to Anderlecht has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Racing Genk with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. KV Oostende have kept their man, and Racing Genk go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Mousa Lukaku 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.
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
In brief
SquadJunya Ito falls out with a teammate over standards
Racing Genk have gone to Hull City 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Anderlecht waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Racing Genk is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Police Union had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Racing Genk have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. KV Mechelen have kept their man, and Racing Genk go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
$2.4M was the most the club would pay and KV Mechelen 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.
Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 2 signed and 3 gone
That is the business done at Racing Genk 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.
Racing Genk have gone to KV Oostende 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. Club Brugge have kept their man, and Racing Genk go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Racing Genk can pretend not to have heard.
Racing Genk have gone to KV Mechelen 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.
5 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.
Breel Embolo 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Racing Genk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carl Starfelt 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 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.
Racing Genk asked and KV Mechelen said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Junya Ito was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The deal with KV Oostende is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing Genk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Yaimar Medina wants continental football; whether Racing Genk can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
The phone has started ringing about Noah Adedeji-Sternberg again, and this time the name on the line is Chiapas. Racing Genk are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Carl Starfelt 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.
Racing Genk have gone to FC Tokyo 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.
“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 Racing Genk, and it is not being withdrawn.
$3.8M on the table at KV Oostende. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Breel Embolo wants continental football; whether Racing Genk can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carl Starfelt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Breel Embolo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.13. 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.
The offer from Atletico Bucaramanga for Aaron Bibout 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing Genk 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 Matte Smets was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Lokeren defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carl Starfelt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The phone has started ringing about Aaron Bibout again, and this time the name on the line is O'Higgins. Racing Genk are listening politely and promising nothing.
Rafiu Durosinmi 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 Carl Starfelt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Rafiu Durosinmi has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“I watch every Racing Genk game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Gandzasar runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Yannick Tielemans kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
In brief
The dugoutYaimar Medina has become a man the manager trusts
“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 Racing Genk hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Breel Embolo 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 Dec 2026
Matte Smets 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.
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.
It needed Breel Embolo to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Mouscron, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Joris Kayembe
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
Breel Embolo 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 Carl Starfelt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The ambition story running the other way, and the one nobody tells: a footballer asking for a smaller stage, fewer cameras and a crowd that does not turn. It is not weakness and it is very rarely reported as anything else.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
In brief
The terracesThe spotlight tightens on Mousa Lukaku
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carl Starfelt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Aaron Bibout has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Yannick Tielemans could afford to be generous.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.29 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Rafiu Durosinmi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Racing Genk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matte Smets is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Minute 96, against Anderlecht, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
Something was said to Mousa Lukaku and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carl Starfelt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Half the programme played, position 9, 23 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Yannick Tielemans left the room before anybody could ask which.
Nobody at Racing Genk 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.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
In brief
Player ratingsBreel Embolo beats them one at a time
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Racing Genk can give him that is a question about the club, not about 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 Racing Genk heard it as anything else.
Breel Embolo 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 Carl Starfelt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Rafiu Durosinmi has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Jarne Steuckers has his answer from Racing Genk; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Level with 92 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Racing Genk had all but put away. Sint-Truiden will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Racing Genk have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Rafiu Durosinmi 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 Matte Smets 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.” Yannick Tielemans after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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.
Yaimar Medina, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.82
A mark of 7.82 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 general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Racing Genk this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Mousa Lukaku has improved at 24, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Racing Genk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carl Starfelt is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Marked 8.05 — 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.
In brief
SquadRacing Genk are still strangers to each other
Breel Embolo 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 Racing Genk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Carl Starfelt 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.
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.
The training ground goes quiet for a fortnight. 5 men have gone off to be somebody else’s players, and the manager is left with the ones nobody has called.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Yannick Tielemans after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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 hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Yaimar Medina did not need any: 7.97, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Breel Embolo 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 Oct 2026
Words at Racing Genk training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matte Smets 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 warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Yaimar Medina has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.43, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Breel Embolo was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.11. 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.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Hendrik Van Crombrugge has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Carl Starfelt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Rafiu Durosinmi has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Yannick Tielemans could afford to be generous.
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.
Rafiu Durosinmi 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 Carl Starfelt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 5 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Every dressing room knows how to read a signing like this one. Deano Van Rooyen is not here to sit and wait indefinitely, and the man whose place he has been bought to take knows it better than anyone.
“I watch every Racing Genk game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Gandzasar runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Junya Ito 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.
Marked 8.01 — 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.
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad14 Sep 2026
9 new faces, and Racing Genk are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Yannick Tielemans kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
In brief
The dugoutYaimar Medina has become a man the manager trusts
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.36 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 15 arrived, 4 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
“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 phone has started ringing about Yaimar Medina again, and this time the name on the line is RC Lens. Racing Genk are listening politely and promising nothing.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. OH Leuven have kept their man, and Racing Genk 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 Carl Starfelt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Jerry Afriyie obliged against Lokeren. 3‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Racing Genk.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Arab Contractors waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Racing Genk is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Racing Genk asked and Trabzonspor said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Yaimar Medina did not need any: 7.64, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Successful dribbles: 24. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Racing Genk offered $660.0K; Waasland-Beveren 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.
$23.8M was the most the club would pay and Brighton 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.
Racing Genk asked and Besiktas said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Rafiu Durosinmi provided it, and the 8.94 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Aaron Bibout had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Rafiu Durosinmi 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Junya Ito 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.
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.
The name of Adrián Palacios has come up in conversations Racing Genk were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The deal with Brighton is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Racing Genk have lost him in all but the paperwork.
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $21.4M has been paid because Breel Embolo is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
Racing Genk have gone to Club Brugge 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.
KV Oostende did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $5.1M for Mousa Lukaku, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
Junya Ito 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.
$21.4M settles it between the clubs for Breel Embolo
Atlanta United FC have accepted the money. What Racing Genk do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Racing Genk have gone to Brighton 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. Al-Nassr have kept their man, and Racing Genk go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Racing Genk have gone to KV Oostende 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.
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Racing Genk have paid $3.2M for Carl Starfelt, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
Rafiu Durosinmi 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
Junya Ito 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
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Matte Smets
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
12 seasons and 297 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.
Racing Genk have gone to Celta 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.
Junya Ito and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Hendrik Van Crombrugge and Racing Genk agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.