Zagatala U20

16 Nov 2026
Monday
Process
15 Edition

The Zagatala Courier

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Tempers go at Zagatala

Marlone 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.

Squad

Words at Zagatala training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Deysinho 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 dugout

Asim Babazadə back under a manager who knows him

The new man at Zagatala has worked with Asim Babazadə before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.

Squad

Zagatala are still strangers to each other

8 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

The dugout

Elvin Camalov is still paying for one afternoon at Zagatala

Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.

Squad

Ramin Abdullayev stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Ramin Abdullayev and Zagatala agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Player ratings

Nobody on the pitch touched Yohan Mollo

7.28, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Zagatala had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.

The dugout

When it matters, Wanderson plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Samir Ozobic was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Zagatala dressing room was either.

In brief

  • Player ratings Nobody could get near Wanderson
  • Match Point won or two lost for Zagatala?
  • Market The Deysinho story refuses to die
Back issues
14 Edition

The Zagatala Courier

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Ilkin Qırtımov damages knee ligaments — 18 days out

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.

The dugout

Mahmud Məmmədov says Zagatala went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Match

The run is over for Zagatala

8 matches without defeat, and then Mingachevir. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.

Squad

Words exchanged at Zagatala

Marlone 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.

Squad

Ramin Abdullayev arrives at the club he grew up with

Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Ramin Abdullayev has, at Zagatala, and the first month will show what that does to a man.

Boardroom

231% of the income goes out in wages at Zagatala

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.

Match

Zagatala come up short against Mingachevir

Mingachevir left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Murad Məmmədov 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 dugout

Asim Babazadə back under a manager who knows him

The new man at Zagatala has worked with Asim Babazadə before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.

In brief

13 Edition

The Zagatala Courier

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Ilkin Qırtımov damages knee ligaments — 25 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 25 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.

Player ratings

Age has not caught João Grilo yet — 7.89

At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.89 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Match

8 unbeaten for Zagatala

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation Zagatala did not have in the autumn.

Squad

Fábio Rampi out for 18 days

The medical room confirms 18 days on the sidelines for Fábio Rampi, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Squad

A falling-out at Zagatala

Marlone and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Zagatala training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Deysinho 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 dugout

Serjão gets it from the manager

“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 dugout

Asim Babazadə back under a manager who knows him

The new man at Zagatala has worked with Asim Babazadə before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.

Match

Halfway: Zagatala sit in position 5

13 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.

In brief

12 Edition

The Zagatala Courier

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

The knee: Ilkin Qırtımov out for 34 days

34 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zagatala lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

The dugout

Serjão says Zagatala went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Player ratings

Vintage David Schloffer — 8.39

At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.39, and nobody on the pitch better.

Match

7 unbeaten for Zagatala

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Zagatala did not have in the autumn.

Squad

Home is on Deysinho's mind

“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; Zagatala are dealing with a man who wants a different country.

Squad

The step up is real for Salim Hashimov

At 20 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.

Squad

A falling-out at Zagatala

João Grilo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Zagatala find a way past Shimal

Shimal made Zagatala work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

The dugout

Asim Babazadə back under a manager who knows him

The new man at Zagatala has worked with Asim Babazadə before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.

In brief

11 Edition

The Zagatala Courier

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Ilkin Qırtımov out for 41 days

41 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zagatala lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

Alexandre Aruá wants to go home

“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Zagatala can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.

Squad

Words exchanged at Zagatala

João Grilo 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.

Squad

Time is catching up with Yohan Mollo

Everybody at Zagatala saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 37 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.

The dugout

Asim Babazadə back under a manager who knows him

The new man at Zagatala has worked with Asim Babazadə before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.

The dugout

A promise honoured at Zagatala

Something was said to Elvin Camalov and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.

Looking ahead

A reunion for Şahlar Sədiyev

He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Shimal in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.

Market

The Deysinho story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Deysinho signs something — a contract at Zagatala or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

The dugout

Şahlar Sədiyev 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 Zagatala, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

10 Edition

The Zagatala Courier

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Ilkin Qırtımov out for 48 days

48 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zagatala lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

Ayaz Guliev 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 Zagatala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Time is catching up with Deysinho

Everybody at Zagatala saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 34 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.

Match

Whatever happens, Zagatala do not lose

6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.

Squad

A row about effort at Zagatala

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Deysinho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Player ratings

David Schloffer beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Boardroom

Wages eat 257% of everything Zagatala earn

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.

The dugout

Asim Babazadə back under a manager who knows him

The new man at Zagatala has worked with Asim Babazadə before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.

Market

Zagatala and Marlone are talking past each other

“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.

In brief

9 Edition

The Zagatala Courier

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Ilkin Qırtımov out for 55 days

55 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Zagatala lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Player ratings

Vintage Adenilson — 8.16

At 34 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.16, and nobody on the pitch better.

Squad

Zagatala lose Fábio Rampi

47 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Squad

A falling-out at Zagatala

Marlone and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Deysinho 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.

Match

Adenilson the difference as Zagatala beat Shafa

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Adenilson. 2‑0 against Shafa, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

The dugout

No hiding place for Ramin Nəsirli

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ramin Nəsirli, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Samir Ozobic: “That is the standard”

“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑0, already talking about the next one.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Murad Məmmədov

The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.

In brief

8 Edition

The Zagatala Courier

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Ilkin Qırtımov damages knee ligaments — 62 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 62 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.

Match

Zagatala run riot against Jabrayil

3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Player ratings

Age has not caught David Schloffer yet — 8.43

At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.43 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Squad

Marlone 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 Zagatala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Salim Hashimov is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.

Match

Zagatala end the wait against Jabrayil

It had gone 5 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.

Squad

22 new faces, and Zagatala 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 dugout

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.” Samir Ozobic kept it short after the 3‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.

The dugout

When it matters, Marlone plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

In brief

7 Edition

The Zagatala Courier

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Salim Hashimov is the hero from the spot

A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Salim Hashimov: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.

Match

Zagatala march on in the cup

Sporting Baku are out and Zagatala go through, 0‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.

Match

Cup progress for Zagatala

A 1‑1 win over Sporting Baku, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?

Player ratings

Marlone, 34, rolls back the years — 7.85

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.85 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Match

No end in sight to Zagatala's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Zagatala has to find a result from somewhere.

Player ratings

Rövlan Muradov beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Transfer targets

Pietro turns down Zagatala

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Corinthians keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Squad

Tempers go at Zagatala

Marlone 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.

Squad

Deysinho 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.

In brief

6 Edition

The Zagatala Courier

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Maksim Sadygov

14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zagatala lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Boardroom

Zagatala close the window on a squad of their own making

36 in and 10 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.

Boardroom

Zagatala told to sell

The instruction came from the boardroom and the dugout did not agree with it. Somebody will go, the fee will be called good business, and the manager will spend the season rebuilding around the space.

Transfer targets

Thomaz turns down Zagatala

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Inter de Limeira keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Squad

Fábio Rampi stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Fábio Rampi and Zagatala agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Words exchanged at Zagatala

Marlone 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Zagatala

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Deysinho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Zagatala rebuffed over Abiodun Toheeb

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Qarabag have kept their man, and Zagatala go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

The dugout

Serjão gets it from the manager

“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.

In brief

5 Edition

The Zagatala Courier

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Maksim Sadygov

21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zagatala lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Player ratings

David Schloffer was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 26. 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.

Transfer targets

The paperwork begins on Wanderson

A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Zagatala have done the hard part with Monte Azul, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.

Squad

João Grilo 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 Zagatala this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

3 matches without a goal for Zagatala

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.

Transfer targets

Zagatala rebuffed over Thomaz

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Inter de Limeira have kept their man, and Zagatala go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Words at Zagatala training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Murad Məmmədov 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.

Squad

Zagatala count the cost of losing Fábio Rampi

78 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Murad Məmmədov

“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.

In brief

4 Edition

The Zagatala Courier

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Maksim Sadygov

28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zagatala lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

A falling-out at Zagatala

João Grilo and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Zagatala training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Deysinho 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.

Transfer targets

Guarani tell Zagatala: Rafael Freitas is not for sale

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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Zagatala against Sabail

0‑2 to Sabail, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

No hiding place for Alexander Gründler

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexander Gründler, and the manager let it.

Squad

Roini Ismayilov pulls a muscle — 14 days out

The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.

Market

Zagatala and Deysinho are talking past each other

“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.

The dugout

Samir Ozobic answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

In brief

  • Transfer targets A loan move for Thomaz is in the works
  • Market Experience through the door at Zagatala
  • The dugout No place in the plan for Serjão
3 Edition

The Zagatala Courier

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Maksim Sadygov

35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Zagatala lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

Alexandre Aruá arrives at the club he grew up with

Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Alexandre Aruá has, at Zagatala, and the first month will show what that does to a man.

Squad

Alexandre Aruá stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Alexandre Aruá and Zagatala agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

A falling-out at Zagatala

Ayaz Guliev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Ilusionista

Zagatala asked and Central said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Match

A bad afternoon for Zagatala against Mingachevir

0‑1 to Mingachevir, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

The dugout

No hiding place for Ramin Nəsirli

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ramin Nəsirli, and the manager let it.

Market

The ambition of Murad Məmmədov outgrows Zagatala early

Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.

Market

Still no ink between Zagatala and João Grilo

“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Zagatala, another week without a signature from João Grilo.

In brief

2 Edition

The Zagatala Courier

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Mahmud Məmmədov arrives at the club he grew up with

Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Mahmud Məmmədov has, at Zagatala, and the first month will show what that does to a man.

Transfer targets

Tural Bayramlı will not be coming to Zagatala

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Turan Tovuz is saying, and nobody at Zagatala is enjoying the guessing.

Squad

Adenilson stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Adenilson and Zagatala agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Market

As if he never left: Mahmud Məmmədov returns

Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Mahmud Məmmədov is a Zagatala player again, and the town has its story of the summer.

Squad

Tempers go at Zagatala

Ayaz Guliev 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.

Market

One of our own: Javid Abdullayev joins the Zagatala first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Javid Abdullayev is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

Eddy Medvedev steps up from the Zagatala academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Eddy Medvedev 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.

Market

Eddy Nadirov steps up from the Zagatala academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Eddy Nadirov 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.

Squad

This league is too small for Adenilson

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. Zagatala will not keep him by pretending otherwise.

In brief

1 Edition

The Zagatala Courier

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A career in one shirt: Roini Ismayilov

8 seasons and 126 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.

Squad

Ilkin Qırtımov stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Ilkin Qırtımov and Zagatala agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Words exchanged at Zagatala

Ilkin Qırtımov 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.

Squad

This league is too small for Elmir Tağıyev

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. Zagatala will not keep him by pretending otherwise.

Market

Zagatala and Ilkin Qırtımov are talking past each other

“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Elvin Camalov is in the works

Zagatala have made the call to Neftchi. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

Transfer targets

Zagatala ask about Tural Bayramlı

A loan enquiry to Turan Tovuz: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

Transfer targets

Zagatala try to borrow Salim Hashimov

Zira 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.

Market

Zagatala pick up Elmir Tağıyev for nothing

The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Elmir Tağıyev arrives at Zagatala with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.

In brief