The deal with Figueirense 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.
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 Marcos Antônio enough to be asked twice.
Nabil Pérez 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.
Inter de Limeira wanted more than $37.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
The name of Diego Zalazar has come up in conversations Boavista were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Boavista asked and Corinthians said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Ryan Couto 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 offer went to Mirassol 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.
Julián Reyna 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.
$30.0K on the table at Inter de Limeira. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Boavista and Maricá, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Julián Reyna 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.
Squad29 May 2028
Nabil Pérez 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.
At 22 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Juninho, and the manager let it.
The dugout29 May 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Willian Batista kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 11 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Squad15 May 2028
Words at Boavista training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nabil Pérez 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.
Fábio Pacheco 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.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” André Luiz has his answer from Boavista; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Boavista is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
10 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Player ratings1 May 2028
Julián Reyna, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.95
A mark of 7.95 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Boavista this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
8 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad1 May 2028
Ryan Couto 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.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 4 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Bruno Jesus has his answer from Boavista; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Julián Reyna, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.76
A mark of 7.76 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Nabil Pérez 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.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Julián Reyna. 1‑0 against Aparecidense, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Juan Pablo Vaschetto 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.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Willian Batista could afford to be generous.
In brief
The dugoutLuís Henrique has become a man the manager trusts
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Boavista lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The board have signed the man in the dugout to a longer contract, which says more than any statement of support. Stability is easy to promise and costly to keep.
Allan Godói 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.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
He is 22 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Roberto Tavares has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Alex Guimarães is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The words a physio says slowly. 31 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.
Position 2, 67 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Boavista is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Words at Boavista training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nabil Pérez 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.
Nobody at Boavista 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 words a physio says slowly. 47 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.
Nabil Pérez 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 Mar 2028
Words at Boavista training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ryan Couto 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 Misael is on it.
54 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Boavista lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nabil Pérez 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 Boavista this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Kadu signs something — a contract at Boavista or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The words a physio says slowly. 61 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Boavista is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ryan Couto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
In brief
The terracesThe stands have heard the Diego Loureiro talk too
The dugoutGabriel Caran knocks on the manager's door
68 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Boavista lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Nabil Pérez 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.
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.
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 Luís Henrique is on it.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Words at Boavista training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. João Cunha 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.
75 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Boavista lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nabil Pérez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
82 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Boavista lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nabil Pérez 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 Boavista this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Boavista know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
96 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Boavista lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nabil Pérez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bruno Jesus 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Boavista are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The dugout31 Jan 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Felipe Santos'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.
104 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Boavista lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Nabil Pérez 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 Ryan Couto was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Boavista 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.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Boavista would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
In brief
The dugoutBruno Jesus knocks on the manager's door
112 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Boavista lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Boavista this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boavista asked and Cruzeiro said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad17 Jan 2028
Ryan Couto 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 Boavista 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Boavista know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Boavista would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
The words a physio says slowly. 119 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Boavista is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Nabil Pérez 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.
Julián Reyna 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 doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Boavista know which stage they are at.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Godoy Cruz will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Godoy Cruz is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Nabil Pérez has agreed terms with San Martín SJ for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.