Marked for Eder Hermoza
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Porto had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Al-Ittihad, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Market9 Aug 2027
Porto say no — this time
The offer from Torreense for Marcel Ruiz 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.
Market9 Aug 2027
Pepê has his eye on Europe
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Porto can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alberto Costa and Porto agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market9 Aug 2027
The name of Martim Fernandes has come up in conversations Porto were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad9 Aug 2027
A move Eder Hermoza would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Eder Hermoza is living that version at Porto, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Porto
Hwang In-Beom 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.
Loan watch9 Aug 2027
“I did not go to Samsunspor to sit and watch. I want to come back to Porto and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 6 matches say the rest.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.28, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
The deal with River Plate 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Stefano Fernández 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.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
Alianza Atletico asked and Estudiantes said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Christian Valladolid 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 dugout5 Jul 2027
Jimmy Pérez 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.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market28 Jun 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Cienciano waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Alianza Atletico is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market28 Jun 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 targets28 Jun 2027
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Universitario keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. River Plate have kept their man, and Alianza Atletico go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Carlos Cáceda, and the manager let it.
Match26 Jun 2027
Sporting Cristal left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jesús Mendieta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Juan Quiñónez 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.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market31 May 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stefano Fernández was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad31 May 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 Alianza Atletico this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces31 May 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Álvaro Guevara 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.
Match29 May 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Valentín Robaldo. 2‑0 against UTC, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings31 May 2027
Marked 7.76. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout31 May 2027
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.” Roberto Cartagena kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout31 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Luiggi Alburqueque, and the manager let it.
The dugout31 May 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Mar 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stefano Fernández was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Jimmy Pérez 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.
Looking ahead29 Mar 2027
Alianza Atletico take on the side everybody is chasing
Alianza Lima arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Franchesco Flores has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Alianza Atletico will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Looking ahead29 Mar 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Stefano Fernández’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Alianza Atletico needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Mar 2027
28 days out for Anthony Gordillo after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Alianza Atletico will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.29, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Match20 Mar 2027
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Alianza Atletico training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jesús Mendieta 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.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Juan Quiñónez and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match20 Mar 2027
It finished 2‑2, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 2‑2 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Eder Hermoza 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad25 Jan 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 87 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Jesús Mendieta 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Alianza Atletico training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stefano Fernández 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad11 Jan 2027
A fracture rules Cristian Penilla out for 25 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Alianza Atletico will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market11 Jan 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Sport Huancayo moved on, Álvaro Guevara reports back to Alianza Atletico, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Transfer targets11 Jan 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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Jesús Mendieta and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Christian Valladolid, and the manager let it.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Jesús Mendieta has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Alianza Atletico will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Jorge Del Castillo's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market14 Sep 2026
José Villegas hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alianza Atletico can pretend not to have heard.
Market14 Sep 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Alianza Atletico is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Anthony Gordillo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Jimmy Pérez 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.
Market14 Sep 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Eder Hermoza has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.