Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alberto Lunghi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Torres the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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 The request is on a desk at Torres, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Diego Morelli after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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 Alessandro Masala is on it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Cristian Bunino’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Torres needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“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 The request is on a desk at Torres, and it is not being withdrawn.
Giacomo Zecca 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 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.
Something was said to Antonino Musso and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Enzo Ebosse trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
1 for Michael Brentan, marked 7.68, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Michael Brentan 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 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.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Diego Morelli on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Something was said to Cristian Bunino and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“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 Torres, and it is not being withdrawn.
Nicolò Antonelli was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Torres has been clear about where Cristian Bunino stands, which is more than many ever get.
“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; Torres are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Torres told Michele Carboni something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Torres is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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 watch every Torres game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Potenza runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“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 Torres, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Torres scored in the 109th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Antonino Musso provided it, and the 8.94 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Giacomo Zecca 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 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolò Antonelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
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.
Giacomo Zecca 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 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Tommaso Ghirardello is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
At 28 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Torres ran out of time with Pergolettese. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Torres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolò Antonelli 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Torres is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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 Torres, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Cristian Bunino reports back to Torres with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Everything agreed with Pergolettese, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 14 arrived, 5 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Torino is saying, and nobody at Torres is enjoying the guessing.
At 23 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torres can pretend not to have heard.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Torino have accepted the money. What Torres do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Daniele Giorico was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
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.
Add another name to the list: Cremonese have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Cristian Bunino. The answer from Torres has not changed — yet.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Torres 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 Torres, and it is not being withdrawn.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Cagliari is saying, and nobody at Torres is enjoying the guessing.
Everything agreed with Sambenedettese, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
At 23 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.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Alessandro Coltorti is a Torres player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Giacomo Zecca 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Torres will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Torres had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Reggiana, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Tommaso Ghirardello is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Giacomo Zecca and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Enzo Ebosse has improved at 28, 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Juventus have kept their man, and Torres go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
KAA Gent arrived with $9.0M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torres will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Lorenzo Di Stefano has gone, the accounts have $9.0M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Torres had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Pergolettese, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Giordano Turrini has just signed for Torres, and for once the answer mattered.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Torres people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Position 2, 73 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Torres will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Cagliari have accepted the money. What Torres do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“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 Torres, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Torres have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
$930.0K on the table at Pergolettese. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Giacomo Zecca 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Ascoli waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Torres is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torres will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torres can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Catanzaro keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Daniele Giorico 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 terraces26 Jul 2027
Torres spend $930.0K on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $930.0K for Tommaso Ghirardello, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torres will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Torres people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs have shaken hands with Gubbio; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Torres have gone to Parma 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torres can pretend not to have heard.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Cagliari is saying, and nobody at Torres is enjoying the guessing.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Cristian Bunino reports back to Torres with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 79 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Torres people have started saying his name in the past tense.
$5.2M was the most the club would pay and Parma 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Torres have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Bologna is saying, and nobody at Torres is enjoying the guessing.
$1.3M on the table at Cagliari. 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Torres is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torres will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Torres have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Torres have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Cristian Bunino had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Lecce is saying, and nobody at Torres is enjoying the guessing.
The offer went to Sambenedettese 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.
Francesco Corsinelli 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Torres training over how hard people work
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Union Brescia waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Torres is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Torres will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
$4.1M settles it between the clubs for Medon Berisha
Lecce have accepted the money. What Torres do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Cristian Bunino will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Torres the goodbyes have quietly begun.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Torres have done the hard part with Atalanta, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Giacomo Zecca 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.
Torres asked and Juventus said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Torres will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The offer from NK Maribor for Lorenzo Di Stefano 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torres can pretend not to have heard.
Nicolò Antonelli 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 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Shakhtar have kept their man, and Torres go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words at Torres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Francesco Nunziatini 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.
10 goals in 34 games at Crotone — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Torres updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Torres will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Torres people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from Gubbio for Daniele Sorrentino 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torres can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Palermo keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Torres they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torres 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. AlbinoLeffe have kept their man, and Torres go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 119 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torres can pretend not to have heard.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Torres have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Torres have done the hard part with Young Boys, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Daniele Giorico 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Torres will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torres 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 Giuseppe Mastinu was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Alessio Fabbri 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. Pierpaolo Marino is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Raffaele Ferrari 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Achille Rizzo is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Torres have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
In brief
The dugoutMatteo Liviero asks for a word with the manager
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 133 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
A season average of 7.70 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Torres know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody else.
Daniele Giorico and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Torres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihajlo Cvetković 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 Torres 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.
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 Francesco Nunziatini has written the date down.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Torres they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
What was a back-page story is now a matter for the terraces, and the terraces do not do nuance. Torres would like it dealt with before it becomes the only question anybody asks.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Torres. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Danilo Petriccione will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Torres the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Nicolò Antonelli and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Torres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihajlo Cvetković 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nicolò Antonelli 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 Lorenzo Di Stefano signs something — a contract at Torres or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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 Francesco Nunziatini has written the date down.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Torres would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Torres will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Daniele Giorico 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.
Squad3 May 2027
Words at Torres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihajlo Cvetković 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 much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Torres told Cristian Fabriani something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
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.
He is 20, he is averaging 7.70, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Daniele Giorico and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Torres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihajlo Cvetković 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.
Mihajlo Cvetković is 20, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
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 Alessandro Masala 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 Torres, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Position 2 on 73 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Mihajlo Cvetković did not need any: 8.78, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
4 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Torres they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mihajlo Cvetković was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.23 — 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.
Marked 8.21 — 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.
Position 2, 70 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Two goals and a mark of 9.31 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Torres they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Daniele Giorico 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Torres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihajlo Cvetković 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.
Daniele Giorico 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.
10.00. 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 Apr 2027
Getting past Andrea Zaccagno has become the hardest job in the division
15 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.
At 20 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.
A season average of 7.59 at an age when most of his year group are still in the youth team. Torres know what they have, and so, by now, does everybody 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 Torres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A performance of 8.10 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Diego Morelli, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Michele Marano will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Torres the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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 run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 4 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Torres pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alberto Lunghi, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
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 0‑1 Diego Morelli left the room before anybody could ask which.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Lorenzo Di Stefano provided it, and the 9.51 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
13 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Torres is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Leonardo Monroy 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.
A season average of 7.35 with 11 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Torres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihajlo Cvetković 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.
A mark of 7.95 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
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.
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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Getting past Andrea Zaccagno has become the hardest job in the division
13 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.
At 20 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torres can pretend not to have heard.
Nicolò Antonelli 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Torres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihajlo Cvetković 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.
8.66. 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Torres has been clear about where Alberto Lunghi stands, which is more than many ever get.
A mark of 8.37 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 20-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
12 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Michele Marano will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Torres the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
3‑6 against Sambenedettese, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Sambenedettese kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Torres will be asked about the last half hour all week.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Lorenzo Di Stefano provided it, and the 9.57 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Mihajlo Cvetković did not need any: 8.42, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Danilo Petriccione will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Torres the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Daniele Giorico 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Torres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihajlo Cvetković 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. Torres have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Leonardo Monroy 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 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.
Torres asked and Tigre 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 warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Mihajlo Cvetković 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mihajlo Cvetković. 2‑0 against Pineto, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Torres people have started saying his name in the past tense.
An average of 7.38 in a first team he is several years too young for. Torres have something, and by now the whole division has noticed.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Torres close the window on a squad of their own making
1 in and 0 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.
Nicolò Antonelli 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 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.
Torres asked and Red Bull Salzburg 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Leonardo Monroy, and the manager let it.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Giacomo Zecca was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.16. 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 phone has started ringing about Adama Diakité again, and this time the name on the line is Pisa. Torres are listening politely and promising nothing.
10 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Nicolò Antonelli 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 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 deal with Cremonese 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.
Torres had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Sassuolo, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Daniele Giorico 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at Torres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihajlo Cvetković 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 level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Torres know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
The offer from Juve Stabia for Adama Diakité 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Leonardo Monroy has just signed for Torres, and for once the answer mattered.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Sassuolo; Torres go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
Everything agreed with Cremonese, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Torres asked and Benevento said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
In brief
Player ratingsLorenzo Di Stefano was on a different afternoon to everybody else
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torres can pretend not to have heard.
He is 19, he is averaging 7.35, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Nicolò Antonelli 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Torres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihajlo Cvetković 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.
Torres asked and Deportivo La Coruña said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
At 19 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Torres will try not to make too much of it.
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 first defeat in 5 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Ternana; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
8 clean sheets and counting. Strikers leave this ground muttering his name, which is exactly how a goalkeeper measures a good season.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Diego Morelli was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Torres dressing room was either.
Position 3, 38 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mihajlo Cvetković was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Francesco Corsinelli 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.
Half the programme played, position 3, 38 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mihajlo Cvetković was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 19, he is averaging 7.20, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Torres and Pianese in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Marked 9.47. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Torres.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Torres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giuseppe Mastinu is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.10 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Nicolò Antonelli 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 Mihajlo Cvetković was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A 1‑0 win over Guidonia Montecelio, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Torres know it.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout30 Nov 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.” Diego Morelli kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Getting past Andrea Zaccagno has become the hardest job in the division
6 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.
The words a physio says slowly. 18 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.93 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Enzo Ebosse and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Torres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihajlo Cvetković 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.
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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Diego Morelli on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Torres lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Daniele Giorico 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 Mihajlo Cvetković was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Torres told Adama Diakité something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nicolò Antonelli trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 32 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Mihajlo Cvetković provided it, and the 9.29 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
He is 19, he is averaging 7.07, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
Mihajlo Cvetković 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.
9.31. 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.
40 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Torres lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
A mark of 8.29 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
4 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Daan Dierckx 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Adama Diakité has his answer from Torres; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The words a physio says slowly. 51 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The hardest thing about being 19 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Mihajlo Cvetković did not need any: 7.79, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
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 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.
Michael Brentan 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 words a physio says slowly. 59 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.
Nicolò Antonelli and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Torres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daan Dierckx is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
14 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
The words a physio says slowly. 67 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.
93 minutes played. Cristian Bunino found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Pineto went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Successful dribbles: 23. 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.
Nicolò Antonelli 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Torres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daan Dierckx 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.
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.
74 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Torres lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
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.
Daan Dierckx 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 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 club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Torres has been clear about where Michael Brentan stands, which is more than many ever get.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Campobasso scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
81 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Torres lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
1 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was 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 Torres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Francesco Nunziatini was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Daniele Giorico 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Torres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mihajlo Cvetković 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 here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout21 Sep 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 0‑1 Diego Morelli left the room before anybody could ask which.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Carpi next, and one man in the Torres dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mihajlo Cvetković was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Giorgio Peretti 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Giuseppe Parise is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Mauro Schiavone 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Gennaro Alberti 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Lorenzo Di Stefano. 1‑0 against Forli, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torres can pretend not to have heard.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 16 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Mihajlo Cvetković 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 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.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Torres know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torres can pretend not to have heard.
Everything agreed with Standard Liege, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Torres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mihajlo Cvetković. 3‑1 against Ternana, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Torres can pretend not to have heard.
The deal with Anderlecht 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 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 Nicolò Antonelli was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Torres asked and Cremonese 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 no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ignazio D'Angelo 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.
Standard Liege have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Nicolò Antonelli 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 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 offer from Sorrento for Lorenzo Di Stefano 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 Torres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Torres asked and Cremonese 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Lorenzo Grassi 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.
Adama Diakité 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 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.
Still no offer on the table, and Andrea Zaccagno’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.