Marked for Ever Gómez
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Apr 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Nicolás Cundumí
69 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Envigado lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market2 Apr 2029
“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.
Market2 Apr 2029
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Bleiner Agrón wants continental football; whether Envigado can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
The dugout2 Apr 2029
This is not rotation. Brayan Murillo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Envigado is pretending otherwise.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Juan Felipe Holguín 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.
Squad2 Apr 2029
A falling-out at Envigado
Fernando Farías and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market2 Apr 2029
“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.
Squad2 Apr 2029
The captaincy has been taken off Jhon Gamboa. Envigado will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
The dugout2 Apr 2029
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market6 Nov 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Envigado is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Jarlan Barrera 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 dugout6 Nov 2028
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bleiner Agrón, and the manager let it.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Squad6 Nov 2028
Ever Gómez 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.
Squad6 Nov 2028
A place in the month's best eleven for Héctor Preciado
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Héctor Preciado has come out of that comparison in the side, and Envigado have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The dugout6 Nov 2028
Bleiner Agrón gets picked when it counts
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 Bleiner Agrón is on it.
Loan watch6 Nov 2028
21 appearances at Ceará and the goals keep coming. Envigado are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Market6 Nov 2028
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Santiago Córdoba may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market18 Sep 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Envigado is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Match16 Sep 2028
The run is over for Envigado
9 matches without defeat, and then America de Cali. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
Match16 Sep 2028
America de Cali left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad18 Sep 2028
A row about effort at Envigado
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jarlan Barrera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad18 Sep 2028
Ever Gómez 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 Envigado this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings18 Sep 2028
Successful dribbles: 13. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
The plan did not have a place for William Hurtado
Nobody at Envigado is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
The dugout18 Sep 2028
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 Santiago Córdoba is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom24 Jul 2028
Deadline passes with 1 signed and 6 gone
That is the business done at Envigado until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Envigado have done the hard part with Deportivo Pereira, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets24 Jul 2028
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.
Market24 Jul 2028
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Envigado can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Jarlan Barrera 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.
Player ratings24 Jul 2028
Neymar Uribe ran the middle of the pitch — 7.26
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 10 combined actions and a mark of 7.26, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Squad24 Jul 2028
No place for Jarlan Barrera in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Envigado are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Loan watch24 Jul 2028
“I watch every Envigado game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ceará runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad24 Jul 2028
A falling-out at Envigado
Ever Gómez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market5 Jun 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.
Market5 Jun 2028
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Bogota had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Player ratings5 Jun 2028
Cesar Rubio beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Transfer targets5 Jun 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Racing Club have kept their man, and Envigado go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Loan watch5 Jun 2028
“I watch every Envigado game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at America de Cali runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The terraces5 Jun 2028
At 23 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.
The dugout5 Jun 2028
This is not rotation. Nilzo Ronaldo has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Envigado is pretending otherwise.
Match5 Jun 2028
The half-term report on Envigado
Position 11, 25 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 Dec 2027
“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.
Transfer targets13 Dec 2027
Envigado had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Atletico Bucaramanga, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Transfer targets13 Dec 2027
Envigado have gone to Junior 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.
Market13 Dec 2027
Envigado say no — this time
The offer from Carabobo for Miguel Marulanda 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.
Transfer targets13 Dec 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Depor; Envigado go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
Market13 Dec 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Envigado is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market13 Dec 2027
The fee is $510.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Deportivo Pasto drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad13 Dec 2027
A move Ever Gómez 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. Ever Gómez is living that version at Envigado, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Words exchanged at Envigado
Wilmar Hurtado 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market13 Dec 2027
The unthinkable, invoiced: Jorge Rivaldo sold
Atletico Nacional arrived with $5.6M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
Squad13 Dec 2027
58 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tigres lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 124 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The terraces13 Dec 2027
Jorge Rivaldo has gone, the accounts have $5.6M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
Transfer targets13 Dec 2027
The deal with Barranquilla 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Nicolás Lara 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 Tigres this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market13 Dec 2027
Business is business: Duván Viáfara goes
America de Cali paid $150.0K and Tigres took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Market13 Dec 2027
Aguilas Doradas pay $140.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Market13 Dec 2027
Business is business: Ever Gómez goes
Envigado paid $68.0K and Tigres took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Nov 2027
95 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Tigres lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
This is not rotation. Jeisson Castro has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Tigres is pretending otherwise.
Market8 Nov 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Tigres is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Tigres
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jeisson Castro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Tempers go at Tigres
Andrés Cuadros 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.
Boardroom8 Nov 2027
Wages eat 89% of everything Tigres 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
Uneasy
Squad4 Oct 2027
Duván Viáfara damages knee ligaments — 28 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 28 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.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
This is not rotation. José Mejía has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Tigres is pretending otherwise.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
Wages eat 94% of everything Tigres 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.
Boardroom4 Oct 2027
Tigres counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Tigres now.
Market4 Oct 2027
4 appearances and 0 goals is not a season away, it is a year lost. He is back at Tigres no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their fault.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Words at Tigres training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Miguel Álvarez 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 dugout4 Oct 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
Steven Villamil has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Tigres 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 dugout4 Oct 2027
Kevin Mosquera 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
The dugout13 Sep 2027
This is not rotation. Jeisson Castro has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Tigres is pretending otherwise.
Market13 Sep 2027
José Mejía has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Tigres they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Tempers go at Tigres
Andrés Cuadros 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Tigres
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Miguel Álvarez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market13 Sep 2027
Tigres have let the market know Jeisson Castro can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Market13 Sep 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout9 Aug 2027
This is not rotation. José Mejía has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Tigres is pretending otherwise.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Jeisson Castro 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 targets9 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Atletico Nacional have kept their man, and Tigres go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The dugout9 Aug 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.
Market9 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.
Market9 Aug 2027
Still no offer on the table, and Aldair Simanca’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
Kevin Mosquera 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 Kevin Mosquera trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market9 Aug 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Omar Preciado may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.