Marked for Facundo Machado
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout13 Sep 2027
Facundo Machado: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Racing have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market13 Sep 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Racing they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Tempers go at Racing
Ignacio Sosa 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.
The terraces13 Sep 2027
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match11 Sep 2027
A 2‑0 win over Miramar Misiones, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
A performance of 8.20 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Marked 8.12 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Carlos Mendez, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Bookings catch up with James Eto'o
One yellow too many, and a match watched from the stand. The most avoidable absence in football, and Racing will feel it on Saturday.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout16 Aug 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Racing have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market16 Aug 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Racing they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Racing
Renzo Bacchia 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.
The terraces16 Aug 2027
Racing supporters have found a favourite in Ignacio Sosa
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Ignacio Sosa has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Market16 Aug 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Mariano Peralta Bauer has his answer from Racing; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Player ratings16 Aug 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.24, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match14 Aug 2027
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mariano Peralta Bauer trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Carlos Mendez after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market2 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Potencia waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Racing is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Player ratings2 Aug 2027
Axel Atum, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.99
A mark of 7.99 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.
Market2 Aug 2027
“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 Racing, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market2 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Diego Cheuquepal will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Racing the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jonathan Menéndez and Racing agree another 2 years.
Squad2 Aug 2027
A falling-out at Racing
Ignacio Sosa and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets2 Aug 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.
The terraces2 Aug 2027
He is 21 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Match31 Jul 2027
A 1‑0 win over River Plate, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market12 Jul 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Racing have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Racing may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market12 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Racing
Ignacio Sosa 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.
Market12 Jul 2027
Miramar Misiones pay $120.0K, 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.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Racing asked and Palmeiras said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match10 Jul 2027
It finished 1‑0, and it was Esteban da Silva’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Racing.
Player ratings12 Jul 2027
Esteban da Silva 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market28 Jun 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Atenas had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market28 Jun 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Racing people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market28 Jun 2027
José Varela hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Racing can pretend not to have heard.
Market28 Jun 2027
Only the photograph left for Facundo Parada
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Facundo Parada will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Racing the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Internacional keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad28 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Racing
Renzo Bacchia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Racing asked and Boca Juniors 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 dugout28 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ignacio Sosa, and the manager let it.
Match26 Jun 2027
0‑2 to Montevideo City Torque, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market18 Jan 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Racing is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Ignacio Sosa 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 Racing this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Álex Vázquez 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.
Loan watch18 Jan 2027
“I did not go to Santa Cruz to sit and watch. I want to come back to Racing and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Facundo Machado, and the manager let it.
Market18 Jan 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Sebastián da Silva’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets14 Dec 2026
The offer went to CSKA Sofia 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.
Market14 Dec 2026
Nicolás Sosa hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Racing can pretend not to have heard.
Market14 Dec 2026
Racing say no — this time
The offer from Huracan Buceo for Facundo Machado 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.
Boardroom14 Dec 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $1.7M — a club that wants Esteban Crucci enough to be asked twice.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Racing
Álex Vázquez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets14 Dec 2026
Racing offered $75.0K; Wanderers 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.
Market14 Dec 2026
Luciano Di Candia has left for Rentistas in a $66.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Transfer targets14 Dec 2026
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.