Marked for Pablo Barea
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market26 Jul 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Sanluqueño have done the hard part with Talleres, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Javi Montero 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 Sanluqueño this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Sanluqueño
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aarón Ochoa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets26 Jul 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.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Estudiantes have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
Seydouba Cissé asks for a word with the manager
“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 dugout26 Jul 2027
Víctor Ayala gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad26 Jul 2027
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Sanluqueño has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Fee done, terms next for Lucas Torró
Sanluqueño and Osasuna have settled on $2.4M. 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.
Market12 Jul 2027
Kikín puts it in writing
“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 The request is on a desk at Sanluqueño, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Federico Marcucci 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Sanluqueño
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Javi Montero was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Defensores have kept their man, and Sanluqueño go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market12 Jul 2027
Rodri told to find a new club
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Rodri has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Sanluqueño.
Squad12 Jul 2027
This league is too small for Tachi
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Sanluqueño will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
Pablo Barea knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Pablo Barea trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
The scrutiny sharpens at Sanluqueño
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Sanluqueño is running low.
Market5 Jul 2027
Marbella come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Sanluqueño did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market5 Jul 2027
Raúl Sola puts it in writing
“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 Sanluqueño, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
Everything agreed with Zaragoza, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Javi Montero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Aarón Ochoa 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.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ceuta have kept their man, and Sanluqueño go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
A loan move for Matías Gómez is in the works
Sanluqueño have made the call to Defensores. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market28 Jun 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market28 Jun 2027
The phone has started ringing about Pablo Barea again, and this time the name on the line is Marbella. Sanluqueño are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Aarón Ochoa 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.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Sanluqueño asked and Atlético Madrid said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Sanluqueño training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sato 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
23 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
A loan move for Tachi is in the works
Sanluqueño have made the call to Zaragoza. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
A loan move for Ayoub Akabou is in the works
Sanluqueño have made the call to Ceuta. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
Aarón Ochoa asks for a word with the manager
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
The silence upstairs is getting loud at Sanluqueño
Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.
Boardroom7 Jun 2027
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Jon Castillo has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market7 Jun 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market7 Jun 2027
Marbella come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Sanluqueño did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
Everything agreed with Zaragoza, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Aarón Ochoa 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 dugout7 Jun 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Words at Sanluqueño training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sato 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.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
A loan move for Jokin Gabilondo is in the works
Sanluqueño have made the call to Zaragoza. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 May 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 Sanluqueño, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad31 May 2027
Julio Cabrera 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.
Squad31 May 2027
A row about effort at Sanluqueño
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Aarón Ochoa was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad31 May 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Zico Asare and Sanluqueño agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Boardroom31 May 2027
Wages swallow 87% of the Sanluqueño income
Every club 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 it has been tried.
The dugout31 May 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces24 May 2027
Supporters organise against the Sanluqueño board
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.
Match24 May 2027
Sanluqueño are in real trouble now
Position 20, 15 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad24 May 2027
Aarón Ochoa 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 Sanluqueño this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 May 2027
Felipe Fernández 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 dugout24 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Federico Marcucci, and the manager let it.
The dugout24 May 2027
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.