Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Montevideo City Torque they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Jonathan Dellarossa 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.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Pablo Siles 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.
“I did not go to Huracan Buceo to sit and watch. I want to come back to Montevideo City Torque and fight for my place.” 14 appearances in 46 matches say the rest.
Nobody at Montevideo City Torque 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Montevideo City Torque, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pablo Siles 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.
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 Ignacio Molina is on it.
6 shut-outs in 14 games. A goalkeeper’s loan is judged on the afternoons when nothing happened at all, and Martín Almeida has been having a lot of them.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Montevideo City Torque. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Pablo Siles 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 easiest signature of my career.” Ignacio Molina and Montevideo City Torque agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Nobody at Montevideo City Torque 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.
6 shut-outs in 14 games. A goalkeeper’s loan is judged on the afternoons when nothing happened at all, and Martín Almeida has been having a lot of them.
In brief
Loan watchThe goals keep arriving from Nahuel da Silva’s exile
“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 Montevideo City Torque, and it is not being withdrawn.
5 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Montevideo City Torque this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Willian Araujo has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Tombense can pretend not to have heard.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Tombense this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Everybody at Tombense saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 35 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yann Rolim was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Montevideo City Torque people have started saying his name in the past tense.
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Montevideo City Torque has to find a result from somewhere.
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 7.57 for the rest of it.
The offer from La Equidad for Fernando Formoso 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.
Jonathan Dellarossa 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.
Montevideo City Torque have gone to Wanderers 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.
$38.0K was the most the club would pay and Progreso 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lautaro López and Montevideo City Torque agree another 4 years.
The deal with Montevideo City Torque 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.
Maximiliano Rogoski 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 Tcharlles was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Londrina have kept their man, and Tombense go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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. Tombense will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
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 dugout12 Jul 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Bruno Menezes'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.
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 7.52 for the rest of it.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $40.0K — a club that wants Sebastián Cardozo enough to be asked twice.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.06, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
The offer went to River Plate 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 Pablo Siles was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $65.0K — a club that wants Benjamín Sánchez enough to be asked twice.
The fee is $400.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Racing drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ignacio Molina is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Montevideo City Torque this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Montevideo City Torque have gone to Progreso 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.
Montevideo City Torque offered $36.0K; Progreso 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.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. José Tarán had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
“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 Montevideo City Torque, 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 7.72 for the rest of it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Montevideo City Torque is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The offer went to Colon 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.
David Terans 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.
He is 21, he is averaging 7.02, and older professionals have started passing to him in the difficult minutes. That last part is the real scouting report.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Montevideo City Torque have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
4 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.
David Terans 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ignacio Molina is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad31 May 2027
Pablo Siles 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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Montevideo City Torque will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Jonathan Dellarossa 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Pablo Siles 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.
Nobody at Montevideo City Torque 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Facundo Silvera trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Nacional in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Montevideo City Torque 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 Montevideo City Torque this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
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. 14 actions, 7.55, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Pablo Siles 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.
“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 Montevideo City Torque, and 0 appearances in 11 say he has earned the hearing.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Jonathan Dellarossa 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.
“I did not go to Lito to sit and watch. I want to come back to Montevideo City Torque and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.
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 Bautista Kociubinski is on it.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Montevideo City Torque will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Montevideo City Torque 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 Montevideo City Torque this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Pablo Siles 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ignacio Molina and Montevideo City Torque agree another 5 years.
7 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.
Nobody at Montevideo City Torque 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.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Montevideo City Torque can pretend not to have heard.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Montevideo City Torque have lost him in all but the paperwork.
$1.1M was the most the club would pay and Racing 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.
David Terans 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Luka Andrade and Montevideo City Torque agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Montevideo City Torque will try again when the window opens; Boston River may not be selling by then.
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 nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Montevideo City Torque 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 Montevideo City Torque people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer went to Racing 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Montevideo City Torque this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
$110.0K on the table at Boston River. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Pablo Siles was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Montevideo City Torque asked and Salto said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
0‑4. There is a level at which football is played every single week by clubs that have been doing it for fifty years, and an evening like this is what it feels like to arrive there without having done it.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. José Tarán had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Jonathan Dellarossa is living that version at Montevideo City Torque, and it tends to show in the first month.
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $2.2M has been paid because Jonathan Dellarossa is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
Mar de Fondo did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $1.7M for Manuel Pereira, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
Diogo Guzmán 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.
Diogo Guzmán 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 Sergio Sanabria was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gonzalo Montes trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Montevideo City Torque 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.
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.
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
“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 Montevideo City Torque, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Diogo Guzmán 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 had been thinking. Pablo Siles 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 Montevideo City Torque, and both men came out saying it was fine.
1‑0 against America de Cali, 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
He is 21 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.