From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer from Djoliba for Mamoutou Berthé 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Imad Rqioui in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at US Bougouba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Prince Maseko and US Bougouba agree another 3 years.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Ace Sali has outgrown this division
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. US Bougouba know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Market17 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at US Bougouba, another week without a signature from Lucan Louw.
Market17 Aug 2026
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Lwandile Khawuta and US Bougouba agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Imad Rqioui in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at US Bougouba this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Aug 2026
This league is too small for Imad Rqioui
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. US Bougouba will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Market10 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Market10 Aug 2026
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Market10 Aug 2026
At 39, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at US Bougouba, another week without a signature from Mamoutou Berthé.
Market3 Aug 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Mamoutou Berthé’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Market3 Aug 2026
The clock does Mamoutou Berthé’s negotiating for him
5 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee US Bougouba could ask drops and the wages Mamoutou Berthé can ask rise.