The Alianza Lima Sentinel
Market11 Jan 2027
So close: Jesús Castillo’s move dies late
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Deportivo Municipal moved on, Jesús Castillo reports back to Alianza Lima, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Luis Ramos stays put
“The easiest signature of my career.” Luis Ramos and Alianza Lima agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad11 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Alianza Lima
Guillermo Viscarra and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market11 Jan 2027
One of our own: Joel Yotun joins the Alianza Lima first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Joel Yotun is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market11 Jan 2027
Horacio Garces steps up from the Alianza Lima academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Horacio Garces has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market11 Jan 2027
One of our own: Victor Ruidiaz joins the Alianza Lima first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Victor Ruidiaz is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Marcelo Matzuda 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 dugout11 Jan 2027
When it matters, Gaspar Gentile plays
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.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Luis Ramos has been promised minutes
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 Luis Ramos has written the date down.
In brief
- Squad Guillermo Viscarra wants to know why he earns less
- The dugout The manager plants his flag on Alan Cantero