Marked for Valentín Sánchez
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Jan 2028
Lisandro Magallán damages knee ligaments — 143 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 143 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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Vélez may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market10 Jan 2028
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Dilan Godoy reports back to Vélez with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Squad10 Jan 2028
A falling-out at Vélez
Emanuel Mammana and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Vélez will try again when the window opens; Tigre may not be selling by then.
Squad10 Jan 2028
A row about effort at Vélez
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Elías Cabrera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
“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.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
Thiago Silvero has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Vélez 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad6 Dec 2027
29 days out for Nicolás Ortiz after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Vélez will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Loan watch6 Dec 2027
34 appearances away from home and 23 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
The dugout6 Dec 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Vélez may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market6 Dec 2027
Vélez say no — this time
The offer from Independiente for Alex Verón 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.
Loan watch6 Dec 2027
33 appearances at Tristán Suárez and the goals keep coming. Vélez are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Market6 Dec 2027
Emanuel Mammana wants to know where this is going
“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 Vélez hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Transfer targets6 Dec 2027
Everything agreed with Brentford, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad6 Dec 2027
A falling-out at Vélez
Emanuel Mammana and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market6 Dec 2027
The phone has started ringing about Matías Daniele again, and this time the name on the line is Fortaleza. Vélez are listening politely and promising nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market21 Jun 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Huracán
Juan Bisanz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
The offer went to Defensores this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Market21 Jun 2027
Vélez pay $660.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Market21 Jun 2027
The name of Martín Soto has come up in conversations Huracán were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad21 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Huracán
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Guillermo Enrique was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
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 Leonardo Sequeira is on it.
Market21 Jun 2027
The César Ibáñez story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until César Ibáñez signs something — a contract at Huracán or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Jun 2027
Ulises Piedrabuena damages knee ligaments — 19 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 19 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
A fracture rules Lucas Robertone out for 70 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Vélez will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
The offer went to Columbus Crew this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Market21 Jun 2027
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Thiago Silvero had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Market21 Jun 2027
The fee is $660.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Huracán drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
$470.0K on the table at Rosario Central. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Market21 Jun 2027
The fee is $410.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Belgrano drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad21 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Vélez
Emanuel Mammana and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Jun 2027
16 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Huracán lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match9 Jun 2027
Cup progress for Huracán
A 1‑0 win over Temperley, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
The dugout14 Jun 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Huracán may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Marked 7.96 at 20, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. 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.
Market14 Jun 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Match9 Jun 2027
It had gone 8 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Juan Bisanz 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 Huracán this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Leonardo Gil 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad4 Jan 2027
Hernán Galíndez damages knee ligaments — 153 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 153 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Juan Olarte out for 15 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Huracán will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
Platense wanted more than $2.2M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Leonardo Gil 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 Huracán this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market4 Jan 2027
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Lanús moved on, Nazareno Durán reports back to Huracán, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Rodrigo Cabral and Huracán agree another 4 years.
Market4 Jan 2027
The clock runs on Rodrigo Cabral's contract
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Market4 Jan 2027
Juan Bisanz linked with a move away
The name of Juan Bisanz keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Huracán say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“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.