Marked for Juan Ignacio Blanco
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Feb 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Potencia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Feb 2028
A row about effort at Potencia
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo González was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Roque Ricca is no longer first choice
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Roque Ricca has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
The dugout7 Feb 2028
Darío Pereira has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Potencia 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 dugout7 Feb 2028
“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 Feb 2028
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Facundo Borges has moved up it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 Jan 2028
“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.
Market31 Jan 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Potencia is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Darío Pereira 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 Jan 2028
A row about effort at Potencia
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo González was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom31 Jan 2028
Wages swallow 108% of the Potencia 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.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Somebody is after Matías Faber’s shirt
A new face in his position, and Matías Faber suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Potencia have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Squad31 Jan 2028
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Potencia know which stage they are at.
Market31 Jan 2028
Potencia shop where it costs nothing
Luis El Khuffash signs, and the fee column stays empty. Deals like this look small in July and clever by March — or they are never mentioned again.
Market31 Jan 2028
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Jan 2028
Lukas König has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Potencia they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words exchanged at Potencia
Darío Pereira 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 Jan 2028
A move Tomás Romero would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Tomás Romero is living that version at Potencia, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Words at Potencia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Santiago Amaral 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Too much change too quickly at Potencia
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.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
When it matters, Lukas König plays
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.
The dugout24 Jan 2028
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.
Market24 Jan 2028
Potencia have made Junior Silva available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
Market24 Jan 2028
Potencia shop where it costs nothing
Tomás Romero signs, and the fee column stays empty. Deals like this look small in July and clever by March — or they are never mentioned again.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market17 Jan 2028
“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.
Squad17 Jan 2028
A falling-out at Potencia
Darío Pereira and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom17 Jan 2028
Belts tighten at Potencia
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Santiago Amaral 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 dugout17 Jan 2028
“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 dugout17 Jan 2028
Nobody at Potencia 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.
Market17 Jan 2028
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Darío Pereira signs something — a contract at Potencia or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market17 Jan 2028
The clock does Junior Silva’s negotiating for him
7 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee Potencia could ask drops and the wages Junior Silva can ask rise.
Squad17 Jan 2028
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Potencia will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market6 Dec 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.
Market6 Dec 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market6 Dec 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Potencia have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Squad6 Dec 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Potencia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets6 Dec 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.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Potencia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Santiago Amaral 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.
Market6 Dec 2027
Diego Córdoba is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Potencia has been clear about where Diego Córdoba stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Potencia is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Boardroom6 Dec 2027
109% of the income goes out in wages at Potencia
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad25 Oct 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 15 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Words exchanged at Potencia
Darío Pereira 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.
Boardroom25 Oct 2027
The numbers do not look good at Potencia
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
Squad25 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Potencia
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo González was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
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.
Market25 Oct 2027
At 36, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Sep 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Potencia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market20 Sep 2027
Only the photograph left for Miguel Caicedo
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Miguel Caicedo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Potencia the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Boardroom20 Sep 2027
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Miguel Caicedo 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Darío Pereira 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.
Squad20 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Potencia
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo González was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad20 Sep 2027
The medical room confirms 41 days on the sidelines for Juan Leguisamón, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
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.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
Guzmán Trucido 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 Guzmán Trucido trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout20 Sep 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad13 Sep 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Potencia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Market13 Sep 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Potencia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Facundo González 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 dugout13 Sep 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.
Boardroom13 Sep 2027
Wages eat 125% of everything Potencia earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Aug 2027
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Potencia will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Potencia
Darío Pereira 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.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Words at Potencia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lautaro de León 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 dugout2 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Joe Arreche
“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.
Market2 Aug 2027
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Boardroom2 Aug 2027
The numbers do not look good at Potencia
Wages have outrun income and the accountants have started attending meetings they used to send apologies to. Ambition comes second in a season like this.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Potencia
Nahuel Peralta and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
Wages eat 114% of everything Potencia earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Germán Cabrera 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 targets7 Dec 2026
Cerrito 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 dugout7 Dec 2026
“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.
Boardroom7 Dec 2026
Open for business: Potencia enter the window
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Sep 2026
Juan Leguisamón arrives at the club he grew up with
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Juan Leguisamón has, at Potencia, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad14 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Potencia
Nahuel Peralta and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Sep 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Juan Leguisamón commits to Potencia for another 4 years.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
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.
Market7 Sep 2026
The shirt still fits. Santiago Tourreilles is back at Potencia, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Squad7 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Potencia this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Cerrito will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Mateo Vista has pre-agreed a move to Potencia, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Facundo González 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.