Marked for Jairo Reyes
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market2 Aug 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Torpedo Kutaisi had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Market2 Aug 2027
Fortaleza say no — this time
The offer from Juazeirense for Jairo Reyes 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.
Market2 Aug 2027
Lucas Piton wants to know where this is going
“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 Fortaleza hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Wanderson 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 Fortaleza this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match31 Jul 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Fortaleza did not have in the autumn.
Market2 Aug 2027
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Matheus Rossetto wants continental football; whether Fortaleza can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad2 Aug 2027
200 appearances for Pedro
200 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tomás Cardona, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Transfer targets19 Jul 2027
Fortaleza and Athletico Paranaense have settled on $7.3M. 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.
Match17 Jul 2027
Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 3‑0 against Operário Ferroviário, and it could have been more.
Match13 Jul 2027
São Bernardo will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Fortaleza were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Transfer targets19 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.
Match19 Jul 2027
39 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.
Squad19 Jul 2027
3 goals for Pedro
The match ball belongs to Pedro, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Market19 Jul 2027
Fortaleza say no — this time
The offer from Sarmiento for Lima 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.
Market19 Jul 2027
Nathan Fogaça has left for Fluminense in a $6.8M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Market19 Jul 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 Fortaleza, and it is not being withdrawn.
In brief
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Player ratings
Lima pops up at the right end — 7.37
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Market
Fortaleza may not be able to give Pedro what he wants
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Match
Nobody wins at Fortaleza
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match19 May 2027
Fortaleza through in the cup
A 5‑4 win over Barcelona de Ilhéus, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match19 May 2027
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Fortaleza scored in the 106th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Market24 May 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.
Player ratings24 May 2027
A brace, and Paulo Baya takes the afternoon — 8.33
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Paulo Baya provided it, and the 8.33 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings24 May 2027
No sign of nerves from Jairo Reyes at 21 — 8.17
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Jairo Reyes did not need any: 8.17, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Player ratings24 May 2027
A defender's goal wins it for Fortaleza — 7.74
1 for Tobias Figueiredo, marked 7.74, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Squad24 May 2027
Words exchanged at Fortaleza
Wanderson 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.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Fortaleza training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dória 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 dugout24 May 2027
Wanderson 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market10 May 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.
Match8 May 2027
Fortaleza cannot stop winning
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Fortaleza training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dória 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.
Match8 May 2027
Three points for Fortaleza, 2‑1 the final word against Remo in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings10 May 2027
One of those days for Wanderson
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.22, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Marked 8.00 — 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.
Squad10 May 2027
Words exchanged at Fortaleza
Vitinho 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 dugout10 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Pedro Henrique
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market5 Apr 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Wanderson 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 Fortaleza this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Paulinho is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad5 Apr 2027
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 36 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Fortaleza training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Cardona 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.
Loan watch5 Apr 2027
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Fortaleza, and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
Loan watch5 Apr 2027
15 appearances away from home and 10 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
João Lima 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.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Lucas Sasha 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
Uneasy
Market1 Mar 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Fortaleza can pretend not to have heard.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Fortaleza will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Wanderson 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.
Boardroom1 Mar 2027
The target is Yasser Al-Harbi, the approach is real, and the compensation clause is the whole conversation. Clubs deny this kind of story right up until the photograph.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Fortaleza
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dória was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
“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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Fortaleza has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
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 Matheus Pereira has written the date down.
Market1 Mar 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Nathan Fogaça’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad11 Jan 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Fortaleza will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market11 Jan 2027
Fortaleza say no — this time
The offer from Mirassol for Tobias Figueiredo 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
Luiz Fernando wants to know where this is going
“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 Fortaleza hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
No deal for Raul at that price
Fortaleza offered $770.0K; Athletico Paranaense 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Wanderson 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 Fortaleza this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Jairo Reyes is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Fortaleza training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Cardona 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.
Loan watch11 Jan 2027
The goals keep arriving from Iarley Barros’s exile
10 goals in 15 games at América de Natal — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Fortaleza updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
João Ricardo 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.