Rafa

Left Back - Free Agent
7 Sep 2036
Sunday
Process
Overview Personal Contract News 3 Transfers Relations Events 33 Awards 5 Matches History

Marked for Rafa

453 Edition

The San Martín Sentinel

2 Apr 2035
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad2 Apr 2035

San Martín count the cost of losing Agustín Blanco

27 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Squad2 Apr 2035

Franco Di María stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Franco Di María and San Martín agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad2 Apr 2035

A place in the month's best eleven for Leonardo Arias

Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Leonardo Arias has come out of that comparison in the side, and San Martín have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.

The dugout2 Apr 2035

Miguel Núñez gets it from the manager

“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.

Market2 Apr 2035

The Guillermo Rodríguez story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Guillermo Rodríguez signs something — a contract at San Martín or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

The dugout2 Apr 2035

Gustavo Suárez 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 Gustavo Suárez is on it.

Squad2 Apr 2035

A promotion for Leonardo Arias

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. Leonardo Arias has moved up it.

The dugout2 Apr 2035

Daniel Navarro 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 Daniel Navarro trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market2 Apr 2035

The shop window has Rafa in it

San Martín have let the market know Rafa can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.

In brief

Back issues
433 Edition

The San Martín Sentinel

13 Nov 2034
From our football correspondent Steady

Boardroom13 Nov 2034

Embargo at San Martín

No fees may be paid for anybody, whatever the squad needs. Every rumour about this club until it lifts is a rumour about a deal that cannot be done.

Squad13 Nov 2034

Words at San Martín training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Roberto Marino 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.

Squad13 Nov 2034

Rafa signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Rafa and San Martín agree another 3 years.

Market13 Nov 2034

The Italo Espinoza question follows San Martín around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Italo Espinoza’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

The dugout13 Nov 2034

A door opens for Facundo Russo

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.

The dugout13 Nov 2034

Rafa knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at San Martín, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

432 Edition

The San Martín Sentinel

6 Nov 2034
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad6 Nov 2034

Italo Espinoza signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Italo Espinoza and San Martín agree another 2 years.

Boardroom6 Nov 2034

$92.8K of the owner's money at San Martín

The shortfall was covered from upstairs again. Supporters are entitled to be relieved and entitled to ask what happens the month it is not, and both feelings usually arrive together.

Squad6 Nov 2034

A row about effort at San Martín

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Roberto Marino was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Market6 Nov 2034

The Felipe Rivarola talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. San Martín know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

Match6 Nov 2034

Continental football is in reach for San Martín

32 points from position 4. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.

Market6 Nov 2034

Roberto Marino runs his contract down

3 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs San Martín money.

In brief