Marked for Thiago Charras
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Jul 2027
20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Belgrano lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market19 Jul 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Belgrano have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market19 Jul 2027
Casa Pia pay $3.1M, 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.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
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.
Market19 Jul 2027
Belgrano say no — this time
The offer from Aragua for Gastón Unrein 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Lucas Zelarayán 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Belgrano training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adrián Sánchez 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.
Boardroom19 Jul 2027
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Faustino Piotti has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Belgrano have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Transfer targets19 Jul 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Jul 2027
Thiago Charras damages knee ligaments — 27 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 27 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.
Market12 Jul 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Barracas Central waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Belgrano is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market12 Jul 2027
Belgrano say no — this time
The offer from Racing Club for Ramiro Hernandes 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.
Boardroom12 Jul 2027
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.
Market12 Jul 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Belgrano is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Belgrano
Lucas Zelarayán 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.
Market12 Jul 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Belgrano will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad12 Jul 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Nicolás Meriano and Belgrano agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets12 Jul 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Como have kept their man, and Belgrano go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Jul 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Thiago Charras
34 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Belgrano lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market5 Jul 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.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
The deal with Godoy Cruz 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.
Market5 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market5 Jul 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Francisco Monticelli will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Belgrano the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Belgrano
Lucas Zelarayán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Jul 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Eric Ramírez commits to Belgrano for another 2 years.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A row about effort at Belgrano
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lisandro López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom5 Jul 2027
Gimnasia La Plata will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Santino López García has pre-agreed a move to Belgrano, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Jun 2027
42 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Belgrano lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market28 Jun 2027
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Santiago Galli had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Market28 Jun 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Belgrano have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market28 Jun 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Belgrano can pretend not to have heard.
Market28 Jun 2027
The fee is $1.7M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Unión de Santa Fe drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad28 Jun 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 Belgrano this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Jun 2027
A row about effort at Belgrano
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Lisandro López was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Belgrano asked and Juventus said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The dugout28 Jun 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.