Position 2, 64 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Atletico Nacional is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Atletico Nacional have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Transfer targets14 Jul 2036
$1.3M settles it between the clubs for Nazareno Kihm
Santa Fe have accepted the money. What Atletico Nacional do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Tomás Kummer is living that version at Atletico Nacional, and it tends to show in the first month.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Atletico Nacional can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Deportivo Tachira for Telasco Segovia 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Santa Fe have kept their man, and Atletico Nacional go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Saba Kharebashvili 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Valledupar waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Independiente Medellin is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 The request is on a desk at Independiente Medellin, and it is not being withdrawn.
7.71, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
7.92, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Santino Andino wants continental football; whether Independiente Medellin can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Independiente Medellin have done the hard part with Atletico Nacional, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Carlos Rangel is living that version at Independiente Medellin, and it tends to show in the first month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Independiente Medellin this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Santa Fe have gone to Toluca 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Santa Fe have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The offer from Millonarios for David Martínez 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Santa Fe they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
He arrived for a fee and leaves for a fraction of it. $536.2K of what Santa Fe paid for Jordan Barrera is money the club will not see again, and the boardroom will be asked about it for two seasons.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Marco Libra had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
9 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
“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 Santa Fe, and it is not being withdrawn.
7 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
The phone has started ringing about Luka Romero again, and this time the name on the line is Junior. Santa Fe are listening politely and promising nothing.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Tomás Kummer will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Santa Fe the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Santa Fe have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Santa Fe, and it is not being withdrawn.
The phone has started ringing about Jordan Barrera again, and this time the name on the line is Deportivo Pereira. Santa Fe are listening politely and promising nothing.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Magrão has just signed for Santa Fe, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad31 Dec 2035
Luka Romero 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.
Santa Fe offered $190.0K; America de Cali said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Santa Fe asked and Atletico Nacional 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Santa Fe people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Two goals and a mark of 8.46 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Santa Fe is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The offer from Rosario Central for Tomás Kummer 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.
Alexander Aravena 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.
Match9 Jun 2035
Another one collected away from home
5 on the bounce on the road for Santa Fe. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
“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 Santa Fe, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with America de Cali 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.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Santa Fe will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Santa Fe is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Alexander Aravena 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.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Santa Fe can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
“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 Santa Fe hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad1 Jan 2035
Words at Santa Fe training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Romero 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 paperwork is done long before the player is. Federico Pérez has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Santa Fe have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Santa Fe people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Santa Fe, and it is not being withdrawn.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Luka Romero wants continental football; whether Santa Fe can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Alexander Aravena 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.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Samuel Velásquez 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.
Squad11 Dec 2034
Words at Santa Fe training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Luka Romero 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.