“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 The request is on a desk at La Equidad, and it is not being withdrawn.
Depor did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $2.3M for Yayo, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Cruz Azul have kept their man, and La Equidad go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Mauricio Liñán and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at La Equidad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tomás Velásquez 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
12 new faces, and La Equidad are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Johan Borja signs something — a contract at La Equidad or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Qualification is done, and next season the floodlights come on for something bigger. A stage for the players, oxygen for the accounts and a passport for everybody else.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A season's verdict on Fernando Borja: the best of his age
La Equidad have a 19-year-old the division has just voted its finest young footballer. The club's next problem is that everybody else now knows it too.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. La Equidad have done the hard part with Depor, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. La Equidad had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
La Equidad asked and Vasco da Gama said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Velásquez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Julian Perez signs something — a contract at La Equidad or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The words a physio says slowly. 139 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what La Equidad can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Boca Juniors keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Antonio Paulides has, at La Equidad, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at La Equidad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Racing Club have kept their man, and La Equidad go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation La Equidad are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mateo Gómez signs something — a contract at La Equidad or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether La Equidad can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Julian Perez 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.
The phone has started ringing about Álvaro Solís again, and this time the name on the line is Junior. La Equidad are listening politely and promising nothing.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Velásquez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boca Juniors have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Johan Borja wants continental football; whether La Equidad can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Velásquez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Julian Muriel signs something — a contract at La Equidad or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and La Equidad will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
In brief
The dugoutÁlvaro Solís asks for a word with the manager
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Felipe Cardona was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
9 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.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Sebastián Jaime has written the date down.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Julian Perez signs something — a contract at La Equidad or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at La Equidad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at La Equidad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Felipe Cardona 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Daniel Moreno has his answer from La Equidad; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation La Equidad are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. La Equidad know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at La Equidad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 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. 11 actions, 7.01, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Velásquez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Johan Borja was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.02. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
It needed Johan Borja to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Atletico Nacional, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Two goals and a mark of 8.94 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what La Equidad can pretend not to have heard.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Julian Perez 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.
A 3‑2 win over Union Magdalena, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
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.
Marked 8.05 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Deportivo Pasto will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. La Equidad were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Johan Borja wants continental football; whether La Equidad can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 19-year-old it feels ownership of. Fernando Borja has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomás Velásquez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A brace, and Johan Borja takes the afternoon — 9.20
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Johan Borja provided it, and the 9.20 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at La Equidad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
A 2‑0 win over Deportivo Pereira, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
8.02. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Julian Rangel could afford to be generous.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Brian Borja 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.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Daniel Lemos has moved up it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. La Equidad know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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 La Equidad, and it is not being withdrawn.
Two goals and a mark of 9.17 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Fabian Garcia 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.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Julian Rangel could afford to be generous.
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Fernando Borja had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Julian Perez 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.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at La Equidad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Brian Borja 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.
Add another name to the list: Feyenoord have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Joaquín Molina. The answer from La Equidad has not changed — yet.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether La Equidad can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mateo Gómez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The offer from Girona for Sebastian Murillo 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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at La Equidad heard it as anything else.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Joaquín Molina 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.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about La Equidad and Millonarios in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mateo Gómez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.