From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
Nicola Patanè 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
The Sheikh Sibi story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Sheikh Sibi signs something — a contract at Virtus Verona or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market17 Aug 2026
Virtus Verona have made Tommaso Cielo available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
Novara come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Virtus Verona did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Francesco Toffanin and Virtus Verona agree another 4 years.
Squad10 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 Virtus Verona this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Matteo Bassi
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Virtus Verona, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Michael De Marchi and Virtus Verona agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Manuel Daffara 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Novara have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Samuele Lerco. The answer from Virtus Verona has not changed — yet.
Market3 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
49 months and counting on Sheikh Sibi
Still no offer on the table, and Sheikh Sibi’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Market3 Aug 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Tommaso Cielo has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Virtus Verona.