The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Deportivo Cali moved on, Iván Scarpeta reports back to Santa Fe, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
“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 The request is on a desk at Santa Fe, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Santa Fe is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Jilmar 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 Yílmar Velásquez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Omar Fernández trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Santa Fe have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Emanuel Olivera 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.
Santa Fe asked and Club America said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Santa Fe have made the call to Monterrey. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Santa Fe have made the call to Boca Juniors. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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.
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.
In brief
The dugoutRamón Córdoba asks for a word with the manager
SquadThe training reports on Kilian Toscano are not good
Words at Santa Fe training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yílmar 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.
Jilmar 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.
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.
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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Santa Fe, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
SquadQuestions about Jacob Gómez on the training pitch
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Santa Fe can pretend not to have heard.
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.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Alexis Zapata. 1‑0 against Patriotas, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.94 on the card, and the Santa Fe support went home talking about one name.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
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.” Francisco Uribe kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
15 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Jeison Angulo has his answer from Santa Fe; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Deportivo Pereira the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Santa Fe will enjoy reviewing.
7.94, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 14 combined actions and a mark of 7.53, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Santa Fe training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yílmar 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.