From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
A brace, and Davide Balestrero takes the afternoon — 8.16
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Davide Balestrero provided it, and the 8.16 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Union Brescia close the window on a squad of their own making
9 in and 3 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Union Brescia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
No thanks: Tomás Galván rejects the move
Union Brescia had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at River Plate, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
One scored and one made, which is a different afternoon from scoring twice and an easier one to overlook. Marked 7.93, and involved in 2 of his side's goals.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Union Brescia 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 terraces7 Sep 2026
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luigi Silvestri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Union Brescia had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Argentinos Juniors, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. River Plate have kept their man, and Union Brescia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Valerio Crespi 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
0‑1 to Lumezzane, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
The dugout31 Aug 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 Franco Baldi left the room before anybody could ask which.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to River Plate: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad31 Aug 2026
5 new faces, and Union Brescia are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Union Brescia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Davide Guglielmotti 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market24 Aug 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Union Brescia have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
5 academy graduates step up at Union Brescia
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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Alessandro Mallamo 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Salvatore Neri 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Riccardo De Santis 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.
Market24 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Luciano Marino 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Luigi Silvestri 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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Argentinos Juniors 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Union Brescia have done the hard part with Sassuolo, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Union Brescia 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Alessandro Mallamo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Union Brescia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luigi Silvestri 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Union Brescia have no good answer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer from Dolomiti Bellunesi for Mattia Zennaro 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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Union Brescia have done the hard part with Venezia, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Stefano Gori commits to Union Brescia for another 2 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Alessandro Mallamo 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Manuel Mancini 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Andrea Pellegrini 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Filippo Marchetti 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.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Sassuolo 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.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
Stefano Gori asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
Stefano Gori wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Union Brescia hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Tiago Casasola and Union Brescia agree another 3 years.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Door shut on Viery
Union Brescia asked and Fiorentina said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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 Union Brescia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Luigi Silvestri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market3 Aug 2026
Still no offer on the table, and Tiago Casasola’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Real Madrid: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad3 Aug 2026
5 new faces, and Union Brescia are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout3 Aug 2026
Stefano Gori knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Union Brescia, and both men came out saying it was fine.