The words a physio says slowly. 65 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 75 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Botafogo can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marin Dulić will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Botafogo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Marin Dulić has agreed terms with Grêmio for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Arthur Dias 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 words a physio says slowly. 72 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.
1‑1 against Cesar Vallejo, under lights, against people who do not speak the same language as the crowd. These are the evenings a club measures its decade in, and there are never as many of them as anybody expects.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Botafogo will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alisson Santana will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Botafogo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Cesar Vallejo scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
The words a physio says slowly. 79 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 89 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ivan Molina will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Botafogo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Successful dribbles: 20. 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.
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout18 Oct 2032
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Pedro Amaral left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
The dugoutDanilo has become a man the manager trusts
The words a physio says slowly. 86 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. Botafogo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Botafogo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Botafogo 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 Ilja Kirsh was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Botafogo 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 109 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. Botafogo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
0‑2 against Guarani. Continental football is unforgiving about the things a domestic league lets a side get away with, and this was a night spent finding out which of those the club still has.
19 goals in 28 games at Ypiranga — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Botafogo updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ivan Molina will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Botafogo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Ilja Kirsh has, at Botafogo, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.15 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Botafogo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Botafogo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Botafogo know it.
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 Kevin is on it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Botafogo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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 Botafogo hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Kauã 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.
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 Danilo is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Gui Negão signs something — a contract at Botafogo or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Vitinho’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Botafogo needing him to play as if none of it matters.
“For the first time in years I am picked because somebody wants me in the team.” Ypiranga suits him; the awkward conversation belongs to Botafogo, and the summer will force it.
Position 5 on 49 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
In brief
The dugoutVini Paulista knocks on the manager’s door
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alisson Santana will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Botafogo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Fluminense held the lead for 2 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Botafogo answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
5 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Santiago Ramos Mingo scored, was marked 7.29, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Botafogo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Botafogo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
15 goals in 25 games at Ypiranga — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Botafogo updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Botafogo have gone to Porto 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. Botafogo have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Botafogo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.01 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The deal with Athletico Paranaense 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.
Boardroom26 Jul 2032
Deadline passes with 5 signed and 11 gone
That is the business done at Botafogo until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $724.5K — a club that wants Mariano Ojeda enough to be asked twice.
Two goals and a mark of 8.51 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 settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Botafogo people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from Confiança for Gabriel Feliciano 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Seniko Doua has just signed for Botafogo, and for once the answer mattered.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Botafogo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Botafogo offered $280.0K; Cruzeiro 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Botafogo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Joaquín Freitas. 2‑1 against Corinthians, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Confiança waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Botafogo is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Botafogo and Sergipe have settled on $840.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
The fee is $2.8M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Flamengo drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Ney has, at Botafogo, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ivan Molina will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Botafogo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
$650.0K on the table at São Paulo. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The offer went to AS Roma 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.
Botafogo offered $25.5M; Bayer Leverkusen 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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Botafogo people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Botafogo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Edson Lucas has agreed terms with Atlético Mineiro for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Botafogo have gone to Cruzeiro 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 name of Gabriel Feliciano has come up in conversations Botafogo were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
$31.9M on the table at River Plate. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Botafogo people have started saying his name in the past tense.
He arrived for a fee and leaves for a fraction of it. $4.4M of what Botafogo paid for Tiago Santos is money the club will not see again, and the boardroom will be asked about it for two seasons.
$4.9M on the table at Palmeiras. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
“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 Botafogo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Corinthians have kept their man, and Botafogo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
0‑2 against Palmeiras, and an evening that measured the gap rather than the ninety minutes. Nothing about it was a disgrace and nothing about it was close.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Botafogo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom19 Apr 2032
9 academy players handed senior numbers at Botafogo
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Éder Pacheco has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Willian Figueiredo has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Cafu has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Marked 8.49 — 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.
66 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Botafogo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Ceará had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The name of Thierry Rendall Correia has come up in conversations Botafogo were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Internacional have kept their man, and Botafogo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Botafogo heard it as anything else.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Botafogo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Botafogo offered $110.0K; Internacional 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.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Mirassol 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 Mirassol, and it is not being withdrawn.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 66 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
The name of Júnior Porto has come up in conversations Mirassol were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mirassol is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Everything agreed with Volta Redonda, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $145.6K — a club that wants Paulo Roberto enough to be asked twice.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mirassol is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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 Mirassol, and it is not being withdrawn.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.78 for the rest of it.
Rodrigo Rodrigues 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 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.
Still no offer on the table, and Mateusinho’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mirassol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Loan watch24 Nov 2031
Ignacio Sáez’s loan is measured in nothing happening
19 clean sheets from 35 appearances at Athletic Club. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Goiás next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mirassol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Mirassol know it.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Mirassol will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Mirassol, another week without a signature from Jhow.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Mirassol know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mirassol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mirassol can pretend not to have heard.
33 appearances at Athletic Club and the goals have stopped going in. Mirassol lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Nov 2031
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kauã 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Louback. 1‑0 against Vila Nova, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Louback at his very best
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mirassol is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Rodrigo Rodrigues 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 Kauã was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A 1‑0 win over Operário Ferroviário, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 10 combined actions and a mark of 6.81, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mirassol can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mirassol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Oct 2031
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kauã 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
14 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Mirassol lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Mirassol, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mirassol is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. José Aldo scored, was marked 7.56, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
29 appearances at Athletic Club and the goals have stopped going in. Mirassol lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 28 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.
Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 89th, and Remo spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mirassol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
27 appearances at Athletic Club and the goals have stopped going in. Mirassol lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
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.
12 combined actions and 7.44. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mirassol can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lautaro Andrusisen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mirassol the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Erick Belé 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.
16 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad15 Sep 2031
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kauã 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.
12 combined actions and 6.87. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Loan watch15 Sep 2031
Ignacio Sáez’s loan is measured in nothing happening
14 clean sheets from 26 appearances at Athletic Club. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
The words a physio says slowly. 25 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ryan Francisco provided it, and the 8.69 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mirassol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mirassol can pretend not to have heard.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.86 for the rest of it.
Rodrigo Rodrigues 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.
Loan watch1 Sep 2031
Ignacio Sáez’s loan is measured in nothing happening
13 clean sheets from 25 appearances at Athletic Club. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
32 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Mirassol lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Bruno Gutiérrez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mirassol the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Bruno Gutiérrez 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.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Mirassol can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Involvement in 2 goals, from a player who spent the ninety minutes doing the thing a manager actually wants: being where the ball was going to end up. 7.11 beside his name.
Squad25 Aug 2031
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kauã 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.
39 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Mirassol lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Position 3, 43 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.
He is going to Braga, the club has $4.0M 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.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.96 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mirassol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Kauã 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.
“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 Mirassol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mirassol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Rodrigo Rodrigues 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Erick Belé. 4‑3 against Criciúma, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Mirassol and Criciúma, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kauã was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Mirassol, and it is not being withdrawn.
7.78, 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.
Rodrigo Rodrigues 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 Kauã was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Guarani spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
9 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
He arrived for a fee and leaves for a fraction of it. $8.7K of what Mirassol paid for Rodolfo Castro is money the club will not see again, and the boardroom will be asked about it for two seasons.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gabriel Werneck will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Mirassol the goodbyes have quietly begun.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Mirassol can tell you which week it ends in.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Flamengo have kept their man, and Mirassol go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The offer from Paysandu for Kauã 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Atlético Goianiense waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Mirassol is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.84 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Boardroom21 Jul 2031
Mirassol close the window on a squad of their own making
8 in and 3 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Pablo Rodríguez has, at Mirassol, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
In brief
MatchAnother one collected away from home
SquadWords at Mirassol training over how hard people work
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mirassol can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Mirassol people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from Caxias for Júnior Porto 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.
Fluminense paid $2.0M and Mirassol took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Mirassol offered $1.3M; Corinthians 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.
Rodrigo Rodrigues 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.
Mirassol have gone to Londrina 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.
Squad14 Jul 2031
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kauã 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Paysandu waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Mirassol 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 Mirassol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Avaí have kept their man, and Mirassol go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Juan Sebastian Palacios 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 Kauã was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
Player ratingsThe game went through Lucas Testa — 6.54
Position 2, 24 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.
He is going to Internacional, the club has $6.8M 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.
Mirassol and Volta Redonda have settled on $150.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.05 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
7.98, 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.
In brief
Player ratingsUp for the corner, and Felipe Gutiérrez delivers — 7.42
“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 Mirassol, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Atlético Goianiense for Júnior Porto 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.
The clubs have shaken hands with Joinville; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The chase for Reidiner ended with $340.0K changing hands and Portuguesa out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
José Aldo 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.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 13 actions, 6.65, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Mirassol have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mirassol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The clubs have shaken hands with Portuguesa; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The chase for Louback ended with $2.4M changing hands and São Paulo out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Rodrigo Rodrigues 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.
Marked 7.96. There is a kind of forward whose value only shows up when you count what he was involved in rather than what he finished, and this is the day that argument makes itself.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Botafogo can pretend not to have heard.
4 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.
The offer from Deportes Copiapó for Esli García 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. Internacional have kept their man, and Botafogo go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The offer went to Mirassol 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.
$690.0K on the table at Ituano. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 12 actions, 7.71, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
“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 Mirassol, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Bragantino for Miguel Caldas 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The offer went to Ferroviária 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kauã was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Mirassol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Rodrigo Rodrigues 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Miguel Caldas 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kauã was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
8.10. 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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Interim Coach on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mirassol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.18 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A performance of 8.53 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad12 May 2031
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kauã 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 mood at Mirassol has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
“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 Mirassol hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol 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 Kauã was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.09 — 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.
Marked 7.23 on 10 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mirassol can pretend not to have heard.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.69 for the rest of it.
Rodrigo Rodrigues 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.
Marked 7.57 on 14 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kauã was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is 22 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Mirassol they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Rodrigo Rodrigues 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.
Day 13 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marcelo Cauã was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Shaylon signs something — a contract at Mirassol or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The table is being checked before the results are in, which is always the tell. Nobody at Mirassol says the word and every senior player in the building is thinking it.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Jesús Castellano may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mirassol can pretend not to have heard.
There is nobody left to promote and nobody left to run a session. The board have brought in a name the supporters do not know, and the question of how a club gets here will outlast whoever answers it.
“Somebody picks the team on Saturday. This week it is me, and that is as far as I have thought.” No promises were made in either direction, which is how these usually begin.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Apr 2031
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kauã 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 bill for the sacking has arrived. Interim Coach leaves with $50.2K for the time left on his deal, and that money buys the club nothing it can put on the pitch.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mirassol, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Neto Moura signs something — a contract at Mirassol or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Rodrigo Rodrigues and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 Mar 2031
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kauã 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mirassol, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mirassol can pretend not to have heard.
Kauã and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 Mar 2031
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marcelo Cauã 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mirassol, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mirassol is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Rodrigo Rodrigues 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 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Shaylon signs something — a contract at Mirassol or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Máximo Capo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mirassol lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Mirassol can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Neto Moura signs something — a contract at Mirassol or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The terraces10 Mar 2031
Supporters make their feelings known about Júlio Fidelis
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Mirassol would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
31 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Mirassol lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mirassol can pretend not to have heard.
Rodrigo Rodrigues 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 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.
38 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Mirassol 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 Mirassol can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mirassol is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Rodrigo Rodrigues 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.
Squad17 Feb 2031
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kauã 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mirassol, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“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 Mirassol, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Mirassol will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad10 Feb 2031
Marcelo Cauã 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Neto Moura signs something — a contract at Mirassol or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Mirassol has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“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 Mirassol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Bruno Gutiérrez has, at Mirassol, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
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 Sebastian Palacios 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Júnior Porto trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Rodrigo Rodrigues 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.
Squad27 Jan 2031
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kauã 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Mirassol, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mirassol can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Mirassol is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad20 Jan 2031
Marcelo Cauã 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Shaylon signs something — a contract at Mirassol or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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 Mirassol, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Mirassol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Mirassol asked and Fluminense said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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; Mirassol are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Neto Moura signs something — a contract at Mirassol or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Mirassol could ask drops and the wages Igor Cariús can ask rise.
Mirassol interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Interim Coach keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Mirassol have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The offer from Novorizontino for Júnior Porto 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.
“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 Mirassol hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Azuriz wanted more than $160.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad6 Jan 2031
Words at Mirassol training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kauã 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mirassol can pretend not to have heard.
The phone has started ringing about Júnior Porto again, and this time the name on the line is Novorizontino. Mirassol are listening politely and promising nothing.
The fee is $680.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Palmeiras drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Rodrigo Rodrigues 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.
$340.0K was the most the club would pay and Botafogo 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.
Mirassol asked and Plaza Colonia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jesús Castellano was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.