The words a physio says slowly. 40 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.
“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 The request is on a desk at Morelia, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have shaken hands with Pumas UNAM; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
$2.4M on the table at Monterrey. 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 fee is $1.2M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Tijuana drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Words at Morelia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rômulo 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.
Arturo Palma 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.
In brief
Squad5 new faces, and Morelia are still learning each other
The dugoutThe manager has not finished forgetting Alejandro Andrade's mistake
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tijuana can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tijuana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Tijuana can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Tijuana offered $150.0K; Puebla 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 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sevilla have kept their man, and Tijuana go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Tijuana will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The words a physio says slowly. 47 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Tijuana; Morelia go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
“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 Morelia, and it is not being withdrawn.
$690.0K was the most the club would pay and Club America 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
David Lemos 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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Toluca keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The deal that would have taken Jonathan Vaal to Morelia has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Tijuana with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Club America paid $950.0K and Tijuana took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Vitinho 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ignacio Rivero trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad19 Jun 2028
David Osuna 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.
54 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Morelia lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Morelia and Tijuana have settled on $1.3M. 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.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Hugo Camberos is a Morelia player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
$780.0K was the most the club would pay and Monterrey 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Atlas have kept their man, and Morelia go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Words at Morelia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rômulo 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.
He is going to Club America, the club has $2.4M 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.
“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 Tijuana, and it is not being withdrawn.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $223.2K — a club that wants Diego Medina enough to be asked twice.
Tijuana asked and Morelia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Tijuana has been clear about where Frank Boya stands, which is more than many ever get.
Guadalajara have accepted the money. What Tijuana do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Tijuana asked and Chiapas said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Adonis Preciado 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.
Tijuana have gone to Santos Laguna 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 phone has started ringing about Pablo Ortíz again, and this time the name on the line is Pumas UNAM. Tijuana are listening politely and promising nothing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pablo Ortíz was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
Squad6 new faces, and Tijuana are still learning each other
64 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tijuana lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alejandro Gómez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Tijuana the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Frank Boya 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 Apr 2028
David Osuna 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nicolás Díaz trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Jonathan Vaal has written the date down.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Adonis Preciado’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings10 Jan 2028
A brace, and Jose Vazquez takes the afternoon — 8.34
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jose Vazquez provided it, and the 8.34 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Add another name to the list: Chiapas have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Alejandro Gómez. The answer from Tijuana has not changed — yet.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Tijuana have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Tijuana have done the hard part with Penarol, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
3 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.
Jose Vazquez 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.
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Iván Regules 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.
Dorados asked and Tijuana 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 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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nicolás Castro trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
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.
Nicolás Muscio 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.
Dorados asked and Tijuana said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
He is 20 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.
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
10 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Dorados training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. David Osuna 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 Chiapas waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Tijuana is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
35 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tijuana lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tijuana this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Tijuana has been clear about where Alejandro Gómez stands, which is more than many ever get.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ulises Torres was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Iván Regules 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 Nicolás Muscio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A brace, and Alex Castro takes the afternoon — 8.79
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Alex Castro provided it, and the 8.79 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Dorados can pretend not to have heard.
Simón Almeida 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Dorados training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Muscio 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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Alex Castro had Dorados level again within 1 minutes, and Toluca never got to play with a lead at all.
In brief
The dugoutIgnacio Bessone is still being punished for one mistake
18 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Dylan Guajardo 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Dorados training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Muscio 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.
Marked 7.17. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Alexis Jimenez was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Dorados dressing room was either.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Simón Almeida trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Jonathan Vaal's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Position 17 and 4 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Dorados have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dorados 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 Nicolás Muscio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 dugout26 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Alexis Jimenez to a room that had heard them before.
Iván Regules 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.
Dorados asked and Cruz Azul said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jonathan Vaal, and the manager let it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Jhon Acurio 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Dorados, another week without a signature from Alex Castro.
Goalkeepers do not get to make mistakes; they get to make goals. He made one, he knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
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 0‑3 Alexis Jimenez left the room before anybody could ask which.
In brief
The dugoutJonathan Vaal is still being punished for one mistake
Transfer targetsA loan move for Carlos Abeldaño is in the works
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Veracruz have kept their man, and Dorados go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Luis Arcadio García and Dorados agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dorados this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 6.69 on 13 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
1‑2 to Queretaro, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Jhon Acurio 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.