Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Jonathan dos Santos has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
He came through the session, took part in everything and finished it smiling. Progreso will not rush him, and he will spend the next fortnight trying to rush them.
The name of Matteo Copelotti has come up in conversations Progreso were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Asked to play a role that is not his, or taken off before the hour once too often — Agustín Paz has let it be known that he does not like the way Progreso are using him. Managers hear this long before the press does.
In brief
MarketThe window shut and Adrián Colombino is still in the building
Plaza Colonia pay $84.0K, 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Progreso, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Progreso know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Progreso have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
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.
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.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Facundo de León has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Facundo de León plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
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.