83 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Banfield lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Banfield have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Santiago Hezze 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Adoryan 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Ignacio Pais is on it.
The words a physio says slowly. 92 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Adoryan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“I did not go to Deportivo Laferrere to sit and watch. I want to come back to Banfield and fight for my place.” 3 appearances in 21 matches say the rest.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Liam Ponce after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
101 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Banfield lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Oscar Martinez, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.78
A mark of 7.78 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Santiago Hezze and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Adoryan 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Alexander Machado is on it.
The words a physio says slowly. 110 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Banfield will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Banfield can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Banfield this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I did not go to Deportivo La Coruña to sit and watch. I want to come back to Banfield and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 15 matches say the rest.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Oscar Martinez. 1‑0 against Rosario Central, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
In brief
Player ratingsTomás Adoryan beats them one at a time
The dugoutThe manager’s verdict
The dugoutRenzo Malanca has become a man the manager trusts
117 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Banfield lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Banfield will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Santiago Hezze 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Adoryan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Racing tried to reorganise, Banfield did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
The words a physio says slowly. 125 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Banfield will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Santiago Hezze 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.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Adoryan 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.
“I watch every Banfield game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Deportivo Laferrere runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Elías Alderete trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Liam Ponce after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The words a physio says slowly. 133 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Banfield will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Oscar Martinez did not need any: 7.82, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Banfield this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Adoryan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Oscar Martinez. 1‑0 against Sarmiento, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 51 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Erick Cabaco was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Sarmiento next, and one man in the Banfield dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Banfield, another week without a signature from Ignacio Pais.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Banfield had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Banfield, and it is not being withdrawn.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Banfield have done the hard part with Atlanta, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
“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 Banfield hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Ángel Stringa is living that version at Banfield, and it tends to show in the first month.
Santiago Hezze 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Diego Fagúndez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Banfield asked and Defensa y Justicia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Banfield have paid $15.7M for Santiago Hezze, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Banfield, and it is not being withdrawn.
$4.2M was the most the club would pay and Gimnasia La Plata were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Banfield have gone to Lanús with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Arsenal have kept their man, and Banfield go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Santiago Hezze was the name on every phone-in, and the club has gone and signed him for $15.7M. For one week the board can do no wrong, which is a week most boards never get.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Banfield training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Diego Fagúndez 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.
45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Deportivo Riestra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Deportivo Riestra can pretend not to have heard.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Deportivo Riestra will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Everything was agreed with Ferro Carril Oeste and then the doctor spoke. Deportivo Riestra have walked away from a signing on the advice of somebody who never saw him play, which is how it is supposed to work.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ángel Stringa will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Deportivo Riestra the goodbyes have quietly begun.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Deportivo Riestra have done the hard part with Atlanta, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Deportivo Riestra had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Talleres, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Ángel Stringa has agreed terms with Banfield for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Alexander Díaz 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.
52 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Deportivo Riestra lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Deportivo Riestra will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
He is going to Nacional, the club has $5.1M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Deportivo Riestra can pretend not to have heard.
The deal with Talleres is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Boca Juniors keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Newell's Old Boys paid $230.0K and Deportivo Riestra took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Deportivo Riestra 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 Deportivo Riestra can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gabriel Obredor was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Deportivo Riestra this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Something was said to Juan Cruz Randazzo and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Deportivo Riestra could ask drops and the wages Facundo Miño can ask rise.
Nobody at Deportivo Riestra will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Deportivo Riestra will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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.
Juan Cruz Randazzo 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.
“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.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Pedro Ramírez was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.09. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“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; Deportivo Riestra are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
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.” Gabriel Silva kept it short after the 3‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
In brief
The dugoutGabriel Obredor has become a man the manager trusts
It finished 0-3. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gabriel Obredor 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.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Deportivo Riestra is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The hardest thing about being 20 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Dante Azaldegui did not need any: 7.75, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Add another name to the list: Beijing Guoan have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Facundo Miño. The answer from Deportivo Riestra has not changed — yet.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Mariano Bracamonte has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Samuel Portillo 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.