“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.
“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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Torres know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Asked to play a role that is not his, or taken off before the hour once too often — Giuseppe Mastinu has let it be known that he does not like the way Torres are using him. Managers hear this long before the press does.
“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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Torres know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Torres know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The terracesThe press have found their man in Michele Carboni
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Torres know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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.
“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 6 of the 28 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Torres know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Torres know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Asked to play a role that is not his, or taken off before the hour once too often — Giuseppe Mastinu has let it be known that he does not like the way Torres are using him. Managers hear this long before the press does.
“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.
The shirt still fits. Dario Palmieri is back at Torres, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
The shirt still fits. Valentino Mariani is back at Torres, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
The shirt still fits. Tommaso Paganelli is back at Torres, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
The shirt still fits. Sebastiano Mazza is back at Torres, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
“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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Torres know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Torres know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A season-long audition: Utrecht still own him, but the shirt and the minutes are Torres's to give. A loan is a bet both clubs believe they are winning.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Torres know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Torres know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Torres know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Federico Ceccherini is 35 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
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.
$2.4M is a serious amount of money and it does not play centre-forward. Everybody in the dressing room knows who used to be looked at when it went wrong.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Adama Diakité reports back to Torres with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
The name of Francesco Nunziatini has come up in conversations Torres were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Torres know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Torres know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The terracesSupporters make their feelings known about Andrea Zaccagno
“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 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Torres know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Torres know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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.
“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.
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Torres have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
“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 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.
A season average of 7.01 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
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.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Bra defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
“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 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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Yannick Häringer will call it something else in private.
“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.
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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
“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.
A 2-1 win over Sambenedettese, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Adama Diakité will call it something else in private.
“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.
“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.
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.
“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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
Enea Florio is 19, and Torres have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Ravenna defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
“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.
Asked to play a role that is not his, or taken off before the hour once too often — Giuseppe Mastinu has let it be known that he does not like the way Torres are using him. Managers hear this long before the press does.
“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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
“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.
Asked to play a role that is not his, or taken off before the hour once too often — Nacim El Hassani has let it be known that he does not like the way Torres are using him. Managers hear this long before the press does.
Fiorentina go through and Torres go home, 1-2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms 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.
“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.
“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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
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.
“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.
“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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Torres have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
“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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
“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.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Florian Brügmann is 35 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
Yannick Häringer is 37 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Carpi defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
A new face in his position, and Giuseppe Mastinu suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Torres have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Torres have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Asked to play a role that is not his, or taken off before the hour once too often — Giuseppe Mastinu has let it be known that he does not like the way Torres are using him. Managers hear this long before the press does.
Torres spent the window trying to move Matteo Liviero on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
The name of Michele Marano has come up in conversations Torres were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Torres has been clear about where Matteo Liviero stands, which is more than many ever get.
“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.
Sergio Negri is 16, and Torres have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.
24 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.
“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.