Cavi

Defensive Midfielder - Free Agent
20 Oct 2030
Sunday
Process

Marked for Cavi

215 Edition

The Melgar Herald

9 Sep 2030
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The cup run ends for Melgar

1‑2 against Sporting Cristal, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.

Squad

Carlos Cáceda stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Carlos Cáceda and Melgar agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Tempers go at Melgar

Alejandro Ramos 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.

Squad

Juan Escobar 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.

Player ratings

One of those days for Stefano Fernández

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.59, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Francisco Bonfiglio keeps on missing

Shots: 13, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.

Squad

Pedro Garrido has outgrown this division

There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Melgar know it, and so does everybody who watches him.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Gregorio Rodríguez

Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

Leandro Carvalho brings the grey hairs Melgar lacked

At 35, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.

In brief

Back issues
210 Edition

The Melgar Herald

5 Aug 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Alec Deneumostier says Melgar went back on their word

“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.

Squad

Alejandro Ramos in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Melgar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Loan watch

Nicolás Figueroa wants to come home

“I did not go to Cesar Vallejo to sit and watch. I want to come back to Melgar and fight for my place.” 7 appearances in 29 matches say the rest.

In brief

204 Edition

The Melgar Herald

24 Jun 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Alejandro Ramos in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Melgar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Melgar see off Ayacucho

Three points for Melgar, 2‑1 the final word against Ayacucho in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Francisco Bonfiglio

Marked 8.64 — 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.

Player ratings

Gregorio Rodríguez runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Ángel Obando stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Ángel Obando and Melgar agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Jesús Alcantar

“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.

Squad

Javier Salas 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 Javier Salas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

Cavi placed on the list

Melgar have made Cavi available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.

The terraces

The press cannot get enough of Francisco Bonfiglio

Praise is not points and never has been. It is, however, the fastest way for a valuation to move, and everybody in the game reads the same pages.

In brief

180 Edition

The Melgar Herald

7 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Gregorio Rodríguez is named among the best

There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Melgar will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.

Squad

Tempers go at Melgar

Alejandro Ramos 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.

Market

Deportivo Municipal are about to pick up the phone

A conversation is coming this week. Melgar will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.

In brief

179 Edition

The Melgar Herald

31 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Bueno 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 Melgar can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Luciano Peraggini keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Melgar may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Alejandro Ramos in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Melgar this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Santiago Gálvez signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Santiago Gálvez commits to Melgar for another 3 years.

Market

Ayacucho expected to open talks for Rodrigo Dioses

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Melgar will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Bueno

“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.

In brief

141 Edition

The Sampaio Correa Herald

9 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

The scrutiny sharpens at Sampaio Correa

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Sampaio Correa is running low.

Squad

Zé Gabriel in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sampaio Correa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Máximo Gutierrez 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 Máximo Gutierrez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

  • Squad Cavi keeps his manager's vote
134 Edition

The Sampaio Correa Herald

19 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Willian José asks to leave Sampaio Correa

“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.

Market

Willian José is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sampaio Correa is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Tempers go at Sampaio Correa

Felipinho 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.

In brief

129 Edition

The Sampaio Correa Herald

15 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the Sampaio Correa boardroom

The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.

Market

Willian José 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 Sampaio Correa can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Zé Gabriel in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sampaio Correa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

In brief

128 Edition

The Sampaio Correa Herald

8 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

Sampaio Correa spell it out for Henrique Soares

The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Henrique Soares has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.

Squad

Tempers go at Sampaio Correa

Felipinho 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.

Squad

Willian José 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 Sampaio Correa, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Walter Reynoso

“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.

Boardroom

$1.3M taken back off the Sampaio Correa table

What was available in the summer has quietly gone. Upstairs nobody will call it a change of ambition; downstairs nobody will call it anything else.

Squad

A season on the outside for Walter Reynoso

He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Sampaio Correa has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.

In brief

124 Edition

The Sampaio Correa Herald

11 Dec 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Cavi asks to leave Sampaio Correa

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at Sampaio Correa

Felipinho 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.

Market

Sampaio Correa sell Ythallo for $530.0K

Ythallo has left for Fortaleza in a $530.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.

In brief

123 Edition

The Sampaio Correa Herald

4 Dec 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

Sampaio Correa put Henrique Soares on notice

The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.

Market

Willian José asks to leave Sampaio Correa

“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.

Market

Fortaleza join the queue for Ythallo

Add another name to the list: Fortaleza have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ythallo. The answer from Sampaio Correa has not changed — yet.

Squad

Zé Gabriel in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sampaio Correa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

No place for Jardson in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Jardson has his answer from Sampaio Correa; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

Squad

Pedrinho 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.

Market

Still no signature from Ythallo

1 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Sampaio Correa could get for him.

Boardroom

Sampaio Correa pull $1.3M back off the table

The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.

Squad

Walter Reynoso has had enough of the bench

“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 Sampaio Correa will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.

In brief

  • The terraces The stands have heard the Ythallo talk too
  • Boardroom Sampaio Correa were not finished after all
  • Squad Cavi keeps his manager's vote
121 Edition

The Sampaio Correa Herald

20 Nov 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at Sampaio Correa

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Squad

Felipinho in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sampaio Correa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Gui Franca 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.

In brief

  • Squad Cavi knocks on the manager’s door
  • Squad Gui Franca is not doing himself any favours