From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Dolomiti Bellunesi had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Eduardo Henrique arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Eduardo Henrique has, at Padova, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
$290.0K settles it between the clubs for Alessio Furlanetto
Lazio have accepted the money. What Padova do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $310.5K — a club that wants Alessio Furlanetto enough to be asked twice.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
No deal for Eddy Kouadio at that price
Padova offered $280.0K; Fiorentina 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.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
3 academy graduates step up at Padova
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Market24 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Michele Tarantino is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market24 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Nicolò Ferri 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
$1.0M was the most the club would pay and Sassuolo 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Padova
Marco Pompetti and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market17 Aug 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Francesco Di Mariano signs something — a contract at Padova or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The training reports on Giovanni Giunti are not good
A bad Saturday is forgiven; a bad Tuesday is chosen. Standards have slipped and in a building where everybody watches everybody, it has been noticed.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The manager plants his flag on Pietro Fusi
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Pietro Fusi’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
$1.0M on the table at Sassuolo. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $1.1M — a club that wants Filippo Romagna enough to be asked twice.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The offer went to Fiorentina 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Padova
Marco Pompetti was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Francesco Di Mariano commits to Padova for another 3 years.
Market10 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Cavese have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Christian Pastina. The answer from Padova has not changed — yet.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Francesco Di Mariano, and the manager let it.
Market10 Aug 2026
The clock runs on Matteo Lovato's contract
48 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Market10 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
Padova say no — this time
The offer from KR for Alessandro Seghetti 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Gianluca Caprari commits to Padova for another 2 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Padova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market3 Aug 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Market3 Aug 2026
49 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Too much change too quickly at Padova
11 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.