Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Brusque will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The words a physio says slowly. 88 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.
Arthur Schilling 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Brusque, another week without a signature from João Victor.
Denival is 36 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Brusque, and both men came out saying it was fine.
95 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Brusque lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 83 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Brusque can pretend not to have heard.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Brusque can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Brusque, and both men came out saying it was fine.
102 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Brusque lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Brusque will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Brusque 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 João Fernandes was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Vitinho is 36 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
109 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Brusque lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 97 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Arthur Schilling 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.
Nobody at Brusque 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 Joaquín Varela trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
116 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Brusque lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 104 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“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 Brusque, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Brusque they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Arthur Schilling 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Dimas is living that version at Brusque, and it tends to show in the first month.
The words a physio says slowly. 68 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Remo will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
“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 Remo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Remo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Remo can tell you which week it ends in.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kadu Santos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
75 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Remo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
0‑3 to Coritiba, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Leonardo Maciel will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Remo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kadu Santos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Remo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Grigoris Soteriou after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The words a physio says slowly. 82 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Remo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Dimas 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.
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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Leonardo Maciel has his answer from Remo; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
In brief
SquadBrandon Caicedo falls out with a teammate over standards
The dugoutLucas Matheus has become a man the manager trusts
89 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Remo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Matheus Aluísio is a Remo player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Squad13 Aug 2035
Kadu Santos 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.
João Grando 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 board was up, the win was priced in, and then Vila Nova scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
96 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Remo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Remo can pretend not to have heard.
1 for Matías Melo, marked 7.14, 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Brayan Llanos will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Remo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
6 goals in one match, Kaique Rodrigues on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Remo and Operário Ferroviário.
2‑4 to Operário Ferroviário, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad6 Aug 2035
Kadu Santos 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.
Remo asked and Floresta said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
117 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Remo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Remo can pretend not to have heard.
Add another name to the list: Retrô have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Mateus Manso. The answer from Remo has not changed — yet.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 5 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Remo have gone to Amazonas 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Remo have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Remo 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 Remo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kadu Santos 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 chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Remo can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Retrô for Mateus Manso 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 18 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Yago Noal is living that version at Remo, and it tends to show in the first month.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Remo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Remo had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Inter de Limeira, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
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 7.79 for the rest of it.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 39 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Octávio Silva will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Remo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Dimas has agreed terms with Retrô for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Mateus Manso 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. Kaio Borges 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.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 46 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Remo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Remo can pretend not to have heard.
1 for João Vitor, marked 7.94, 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Remo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Mateus Manso 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 60 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. João Grando will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Remo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings7 May 2035
Up for the corner, and Kaio Borges delivers — 7.73
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Kaio Borges scored, was marked 7.73, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
A 1‑0 win over Sampaio Corrêa, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Kaio Borges was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Remo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Octávio Silva has agreed terms with Guarani for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kadu Santos 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.
Octávio Silva 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Remo, another week without a signature from Lucas Matheus.
Something was said to Krystian and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Lucas Matheus trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at Remo 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Remo can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Remo 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 Remo 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 Kadu Santos was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Remo, another week without a signature from Octávio Silva.
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 Alexandre is on 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 Remo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Remo people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Remo can pretend not to have heard.
The chase for Gabriel Do Vale ended with $140.0K changing hands and Anápolis out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Mateus Manso 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.
Remo have gone to Maringá 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Gabriel Do Vale is living that version at Remo, and it tends to show in the first month.
Remo asked and Nova Iguaçu said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
In brief
Boardroom119% of the income goes out in wages at Remo
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Sport Recife is saying, and nobody at Remo is enjoying the guessing.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Remo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Remo have gone to Rio Branco 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 number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $158.5K — a club that wants Bortolucci enough to be asked twice.
Remo have gone to Maringá 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.
Remo offered $140.0K; Horizonte 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 Dec 2034
Kadu Santos 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 111 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 57 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Remo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Leonardo Maciel has, at Remo, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
$110.0K on the table at Horizonte. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
$110.0K on the table at Uberlândia. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Remo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Remo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. João Gabriel has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Remo have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
The words a physio says slowly. 71 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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.22 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Wanderson provided it, and the 8.62 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Pedro Henrique provided it, and the 8.31 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 Remo can pretend not to have heard.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Remo and São Luiz in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.