Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Grêmio have kept their man, and Corinthians go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Corinthians people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Kayque is living that version at Corinthians, and it tends to show in the first month.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: CSKA Moscow keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
29 goals in 29 games at Wanderers — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Corinthians updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
79 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
0‑1 away to the standard of Universidad Catolica. Nobody will pretend this was a scandal; the gap is real, it is measurable, and closing it is a project rather than a team talk.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Paysandu waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Corinthians is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
$4.6M was the most the club would pay and Atlético Mineiro were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
He is going to Grêmio, the club has $46.6M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
The fee is $2.9M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Bahia drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
The words a physio says slowly. 22 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
2 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
Cruzeiro will want this one forgotten quickly: 6‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Corinthians were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Igor Paixão obliged against Flamengo. 1‑1 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Corinthians.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Corinthians people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Transfer targets10 Dec 2029
$2.9M settles it between the clubs for Nathan Fogaça
Bahia have accepted the money. What Corinthians do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
29 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Corinthians lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Two goals and a mark of 9.12 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Corinthians can pretend not to have heard.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Corinthians heard it as anything else.
The words a physio says slowly. 39 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Corinthians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Matheuzinho 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.
Squad26 Nov 2029
Words at Corinthians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Garro 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Thiago. 1‑0 against Internacional, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Boardroom26 Nov 2029
101% of the income goes out in wages at Corinthians
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
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 Igor Paixão is on it.
46 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Corinthians lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
73 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 10.00 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. João Pedro Tchoca will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Corinthians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
1‑1 against Olimpia, and a performance that will be described to people who were not there for the rest of the season. Igor Paixão was at the centre of the description.
22 goals and a season average of 7.48. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Match10 Nov 2029
After 12 games, Corinthians finally taste it again
The first defeat in 12 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Sport Recife; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Corinthians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad12 Nov 2029
Rodrigo Garro 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.
Kauã Moraes 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.
9 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.93 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Corinthians heard it as anything else.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Corinthians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Matheuzinho 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.
In brief
SquadWords at Corinthians training over how hard people work
2‑1 against Olimpia, and a performance that will be described to people who were not there for the rest of the season. Thiago was at the centre of the description.
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.83 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Corinthians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Corinthians and ABC in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Player ratings22 Oct 2029
A brace, and Igor Paixão takes the afternoon — 8.35
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Igor Paixão provided it, and the 8.35 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. João Pedro Tchoca will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Corinthians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rodrigo Garro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Corinthians, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Corinthians have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Corinthians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Thiago. 1‑0 against Bragantino, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
2‑0 against Universidad Catolica, under lights, against people who do not speak the same language as the crowd. These are the evenings a club measures its decade in, and there are never as many of them as anybody expects.
58 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Player ratings8 Oct 2029
A brace, and Igor Paixão takes the afternoon — 9.11
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Igor Paixão provided it, and the 9.11 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Corinthians heard it as anything else.
3 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Corinthians can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nicolás Figal will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Corinthians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Words at Corinthians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Garro 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Corinthians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.16 — 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.94 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. João Pedro Tchoca will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Corinthians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Corinthians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Sep 2029
Words at Corinthians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Garro 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.
“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 Corinthians, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matheuzinho was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Kauã Moraes 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.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Corinthians will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 10 actions, 7.05, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Corinthians have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nicolás Caro Torres will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Corinthians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad10 Sep 2029
Rodrigo Garro 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.
10 combined actions and 7.19. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 30 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.28 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Corinthians have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
16 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Omiya Ardija waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Corinthians is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Two goals and a mark of 8.38 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“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 Corinthians, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Corinthians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
28 goals in 27 games at Wanderers — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Corinthians updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The offer from Porto for Thiago 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.
“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 Corinthians, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Corinthians have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
In brief
Player ratingsAge has not caught Memphis Depay yet — 8.93
Two goals and a mark of 8.90 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
15 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Corinthians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Matheuzinho 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.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Rodrigo Garro 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.
14 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.09 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Corinthians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Corinthians hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Cruzeiro will want this one forgotten quickly: 6‑2, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Corinthians were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Corinthians have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Two goals and a mark of 8.38 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Corinthians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Fluminense moved on, Pedro Raul reports back to Corinthians, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
In brief
The dugoutLucas Cunha: that is not what I was promised
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Corinthians have lost him in all but the paperwork.
23 goals in 23 games at Wanderers — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Corinthians updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
13 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Corinthians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.76 for the rest of it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Corinthians can pretend not to have heard.
In brief
BoardroomCorinthians close the window on a squad of their own making
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Corinthians people have started saying his name in the past tense.
22 goals in 22 games at Wanderers — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Corinthians updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
“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 Corinthians, and it is not being withdrawn.
12 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Alex Santana has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nicolás Caro Torres will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Corinthians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
In brief
Transfer targetsNo deal for Luciano Acosta at that price
11 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Corinthians people have started saying his name in the past tense.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Corinthians scored in the 106th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Corinthians asked and Botafogo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
$7.7M on the table at Atlético Mineiro. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Dieguinho did not need any: 7.97, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
In brief
Player ratingsMemphis Depay, 35, rolls back the years — 8.63
9 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
“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 Corinthians, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.93 at 35, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Corinthians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 15 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Corinthians hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Two goals and a mark of 9.10 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Corinthians have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The offer from ABC for Cacá 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Corinthians can pretend not to have heard.
19 goals in 19 games at Wanderers — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Corinthians updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Corinthians have lost him in all but the paperwork.
7 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
7 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Fluminense waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Corinthians is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Two goals and a mark of 9.20 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
6 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Antofagasta had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Gabriel Paulista 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.
In brief
SquadRodrigo Garro falls out with a teammate over standards
“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 Corinthians, and it is not being withdrawn.
5 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
18 goals in 16 games at Wanderers — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Corinthians updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
13 goals and a season average of 7.36. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Words at Corinthians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Santiago Ramos Mingo 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.
Jaílson 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.
Criciuma will want this one forgotten quickly: 7‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Corinthians were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings28 May 2029
A brace, and Memphis Depay takes the afternoon — 9.69
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Memphis Depay provided it, and the 9.69 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Two goals and a mark of 8.41 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Corinthians can pretend not to have heard.
90 minutes played. Thiago found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Flamengo went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Thiago provided it, and the 8.71 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Corinthians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match12 May 2029
Another one collected away from home
4 on the bounce on the road for Corinthians. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Santiago Ramos Mingo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.31 — 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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Corinthians heard it as anything else.
João Moreira 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.
Squad7 May 2029
Rodrigo Garro 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.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Thiago had Corinthians level again within 4 minutes, and Palmeiras never got to play with a lead at all.
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
“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 Corinthians, and it is not being withdrawn.
Matheuzinho 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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Words at Corinthians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Garro 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.
2‑1 against São Paulo, and the songs went on long after the whistle. League positions come and go; days like this get retold at family dinners for years.
Successful dribbles: 34. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Sporting Kansas City had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Score against anybody else and it is a goal. Score against them and it is a story with your name in it for a decade, and Corinthians supporters have already started telling it.
“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 Corinthians, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Corinthians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Corinthians have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Add another name to the list: Sporting Kansas City have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Pedro Raul. The answer from Corinthians has not changed — yet.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rodrigo Garro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Kauã Moraes 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Leonardo Peixoto has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Marcelo Silva 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Éder Moreira has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Nothing about the week ahead is ordinary. São Paulo on Saturday, a town that has already started talking about it, and a dressing room that does not need telling what it means.
In brief
BoardroomA promise the Corinthians board did not keep
Matheuzinho 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.
Squad9 Apr 2029
Words at Corinthians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Garro 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Vancouver Whitecaps will make the call about Pedro Raul this week. Corinthians have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Rayan Lucas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Corinthians can pretend not to have heard.
João Moreira 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.
Squad2 Apr 2029
Words at Corinthians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Santiago Ramos Mingo 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.
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.
6 goals in 7 games at Wanderers — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Corinthians updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Charlotte Football Club had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Corinthians heard it as anything else.
Matheuzinho and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Words at Corinthians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Garro 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.
“I watch every Corinthians game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Cruzeiro runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
With 4 players away on international duty the sessions are small and the manager can actually hear himself. It is the one break in the season, and it never quite feels like one.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Corinthians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rodrigo Garro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
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 Thiago is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Corinthians know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kauã Moraes trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Position 4, 71 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
Gabriel Paulista 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 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.
Nobody at Corinthians 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Corinthians, another week without a signature from Breno Bidon.
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
In brief
The dugoutKauã Moraes knocks on the manager's door
João Moreira 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Dudu has just signed for Corinthians, and for once the answer mattered.
Add another name to the list: Seattle Sounders have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Pedro Raul. The answer from Corinthians has not changed — yet.
Squad5 Mar 2029
Rodrigo Garro 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.
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.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Corinthians may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad26 Feb 2029
Words at Corinthians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Garro 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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Corinthians, and 2 appearances in 10 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Corinthians, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Hugo Souza signs something — a contract at Corinthians or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Corinthians. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Pedro Raul had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Santiago Ramos Mingo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Corinthians, and 1 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Corinthians know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Breno Bidon trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Jaílson has just signed for Corinthians, and for once the answer mattered.
The offer from Kawasaki Frontale for Pedro Raul 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Corinthians can pretend not to have heard.
Matheuzinho 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 Rodrigo Garro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Add another name to the list: Inhulets have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Fábio Mendes. The answer from Corinthians has not changed — yet.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Corinthians are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Matheuzinho 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Diogo Bezerra has, at Corinthians, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Words at Corinthians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Garro 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.
The name of Lucas Cunha has come up in conversations Corinthians were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Nobody at Corinthians 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Corinthians know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Santiago Ramos Mingo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Vasco da Gama will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Lucas Ramon has pre-agreed a move to Corinthians, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
“I watch every Corinthians game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Cruzeiro runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Nobody at Corinthians 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kauã Moraes trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Pedro Raul had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Corinthians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Rodrigo Garro 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.
Atlético Mineiro will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Luan has pre-agreed a move to Corinthians, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Corinthians, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
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 Thiago is on it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Corinthians know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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 Corinthians, and it is not being withdrawn.
João Moreira 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.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Corinthians hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Rodrigo Garro 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.
$130.0K was the most the club would pay and Vasco da Gama were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Add another name to the list: Persebaya have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Fábio Mendes. The answer from Corinthians has not changed — yet.
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 Memphis Depay is on it.
Corinthians asked and Santa Cruz said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Corinthians can pretend not to have heard.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Corinthians hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Gabriel Paulista 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.
$450.0K was the most the club would pay and Internacional were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
The medical room confirms 46 days on the sidelines for Roberto Borges, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Words at Corinthians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Santiago Ramos Mingo 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.
Cruzeiro will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Pinheiro Caio has pre-agreed a move to Corinthians, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bragantino have kept their man, and Corinthians go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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. Corinthians will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Wagner Leonardo has, at Corinthians, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $2.5M has been paid because Wagner Leonardo is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
“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 Corinthians, and it is not being withdrawn.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Corinthians will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
4‑0, and Igor Paixão took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Corinthians tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings25 Dec 2028
A brace, and Igor Paixão takes the afternoon — 9.37
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Igor Paixão provided it, and the 9.37 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Flamengo have kept their man, and Corinthians go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Corinthians can pretend not to have heard.
$1.4M was the most the club would pay and Grêmio were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Nicolás Caro Torres has just signed for Corinthians, and for once the answer mattered.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Corinthians will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Internacional waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Corinthians is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Two goals and a mark of 9.07 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Corinthians asked and Sport Recife said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Corinthians can pretend not to have heard.
João Moreira 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 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Corinthians will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Qualification is secured, and next season the big floodlit nights are continental ones. For the players it is a stage; for the accounts it is a lifeline; for the supporters it is passports.
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Oeste waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Corinthians is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Bahia have kept their man, and Corinthians go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Corinthians can pretend not to have heard.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Corinthians will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Matheuzinho 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Corinthians will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Flamengo will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Corinthians were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Corinthians asked and Botafogo said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The offer went to Santos this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The offer went to Santos this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
In brief
Player ratingsAge has not caught Memphis Depay yet — 7.99
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 50 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Ronaldo has, at Corinthians, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Thiago. 1‑0 against Grêmio, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings27 Nov 2028
Thiago was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.32. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Loan watch27 Nov 2028
Felipe Longo’s loan is measured in nothing happening
12 clean sheets from 28 appearances at Progreso. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Corinthians will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
7.74, 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.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.96 for the rest of it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Corinthians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Matheuzinho 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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Words at Corinthians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thiago 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.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 22-year-old it feels ownership of. Kauã Moraes 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.
Marked 8.14 — 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 65 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Corinthians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Words at Corinthians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Garro 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Corinthians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Vasco da Gama will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Tchê Tchê has pre-agreed a move to Corinthians, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 73 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Successful dribbles: 38. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Corinthians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Nobody at Corinthians 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 one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Corinthians will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Corinthians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Igor Paixão. 2‑1 against Vitória, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings30 Oct 2028
Thiago was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.48. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Nothing about the week ahead is ordinary. São Paulo on Saturday, a town that has already started talking about it, and a dressing room that does not need telling what it means.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Corinthians will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Corinthians scored in the 114th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Thiago provided it, and the 9.08 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Corinthians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
João Moreira 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.
Squad23 Oct 2028
Rodrigo Garro 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Corinthians will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Corinthians scored in the 91th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
Position 3, 48 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Corinthians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Gabriel Paulista 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.
Bragantino will want this one forgotten quickly: 6‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Corinthians were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings9 Oct 2028
A brace, and Igor Paixão takes the afternoon — 8.46
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Igor Paixão provided it, and the 8.46 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.80 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Corinthians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
7 goals in one match, Thiago on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Corinthians and Bragantino.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Corinthians may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match30 Sep 2028
After 10 games, Corinthians finally taste it again
The first defeat in 10 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Cruzeiro; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Corinthians hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad2 Oct 2028
Words at Corinthians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Garro 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.
Léo Duarte and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch2 Oct 2028
Felipe Longo’s loan is measured in nothing happening
12 clean sheets from 28 appearances at Progreso. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
7.81, 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dieguinho will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Corinthians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Gabriel Paulista 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 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.
Atlético Mineiro will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Dudu has pre-agreed a move to Corinthians, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Rayan Lucas is living that version at Corinthians, and it tends to show in the first month.
Matheuzinho 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Corinthians and Internacional, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
In brief
SquadWords at Corinthians training over how hard people work
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Corinthians people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Corinthians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Dória has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad11 Sep 2028
Rodrigo Garro 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.
André Carrillo 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.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
7 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Corinthians have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Tiago Serrago has, at Corinthians, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
João Moreira and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words at Corinthians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thiago 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Thiago provided it, and the 8.54 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
6 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Successful dribbles: 25. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Matheuzinho 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 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.
Two goals and a mark of 9.02 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. João Moreira is living that version at Corinthians, and it tends to show in the first month.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Corinthians have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Corinthians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
At 27 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rodrigo Garro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Igor Paixão at his very best
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.77 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The offer from Arsenal Tula for Lucas Cunha 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.
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Corinthians have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Words at Corinthians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thiago 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.
Kauã Moraes 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.
Marked 8.86 — 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Breno Bidon
The dugoutIgor Paixão is still being punished for one mistake
The dugoutRodrigo Garro has become a man the manager trusts
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.78 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Marcelo has just signed for Corinthians, and for once the answer mattered.
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 easiest signature of my career.” Gustavo Ferrareis and Corinthians agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The name of Lucas Cunha has come up in conversations Corinthians were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Two goals and a mark of 8.91 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Boa moved on, André Ramalho reports back to Corinthians, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Lima has just signed for Corinthians, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad31 Jul 2028
Words at Corinthians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Garro 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.
Gustavo Ferrareis 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.
In brief
Player ratingsRodrigo Garro was on a different afternoon to everybody else
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of André Carrillo
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Corinthians have paid $79.6M for Thiago, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Corinthians people have started saying his name in the past tense.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Thiago is living that version at Corinthians, and it tends to show in the first month.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 11 arrived, 13 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dieguinho will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Corinthians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
$93.0K was the most the club would pay and Grêmio were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Santiago Ramos Mingo was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Brentford have accepted the money. What Corinthians do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Club America paid $11.3M and Corinthians took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Corinthians people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 Corinthians, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Corinthians have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Vasco da Gama have kept their man, and Corinthians go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Corinthians offered $1.1M; Boa said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Boa waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Corinthians is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Corinthians scored in the 112th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Corinthians have paid $11.3M for Kauã Moraes, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
Corinthians asked and Fluminense said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Kauã Moraes has, at Corinthians, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Favela did not need any: 7.70, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
7.86, 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Corinthians have done the hard part with Flamengo, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Corinthians asked and Zenit said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Dieguinho had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Corinthians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
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.
Corinthians asked and Levski said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Corinthians can pretend not to have heard.
There are goals, and then there are goals against that particular opponent. The Corinthians support have their bragging rights for a year and they know exactly whose name is on them.
Matheuzinho 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.
Internacional paid $880.0K and Corinthians took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Eduardo is living that version at Corinthians, and it tends to show in the first month.
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $1.3M has been paid because Eduardo is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
The deal that would have taken Dieguinho to San Luis has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Corinthians with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
The offer went to Sport Recife this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mauro Arambarri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Corinthians offered $210.0K; Bahia said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
$59.1M on the table at Olympique de Marseille. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Corinthians have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.41 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The deal with Bragantino 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Gustavo Ferrareis has just signed for Corinthians, and for once the answer mattered.
The name of Breno Bidon has come up in conversations Corinthians were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
$1.4M was the most the club would pay and Vasco da Gama were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
$12.3M settles it between the clubs for Luciano Juba
Bahia have accepted the money. What Corinthians do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.78 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
The offer went to Botafogo this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Corinthians have gone to Vasco da Gama with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Corinthians have gone to Atlético Mineiro with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Matheuzinho 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.
7 goals in one match, Memphis Depay on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Corinthians and Bahia.
In brief
SquadWords at Corinthians training over how hard people work
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Corinthians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout29 May 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Victor Cunha to a room that had heard them before.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Corinthians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Charles scored, was marked 7.89, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
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.
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Two goals and a mark of 8.21 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Corinthians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mauro Arambarri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 14 actions, 7.07, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Fluminense held the lead for 1 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Corinthians answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
A 2‑2 draw with Fluminense leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout15 May 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Matheus Bidu'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.
“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 Corinthians, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dieguinho will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Corinthians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Gabriel Paulista and Corinthians agree another 2 years.
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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Corinthians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” André Ramalho has his answer from Corinthians; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Nobody at Corinthians 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.
Derby days make names, and Calebe made his against Palmeiras. 2‑1, bragging rights secured, and one half of town will be tired of hearing about him by Tuesday.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Charles will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Corinthians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Beat anybody else and it is three points. Beat them, with his name on it, and it is a year of bragging rights for Corinthians and a story that will outlast his contract.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mauro Arambarri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Corinthians has been clear about where Dória stands, which is more than many ever get.
In brief
The dugoutMemphis Depay has become a man the manager trusts
17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Corinthians lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. André Ramalho will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Corinthians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mauro Arambarri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Palmeiras next, which means a week that starts on Monday. Everything else on this page will be forgotten by Saturday; this fixture will not be forgotten for a year.
João Pedro Tchoca 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.
25 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Corinthians lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
1 for Mauro Arambarri, marked 7.92, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Corinthians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mauro Arambarri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom17 Apr 2028
3 academy players handed senior numbers at Corinthians
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
André Carrillo 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Roberto Borges 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.
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Corinthians lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dieguinho will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Corinthians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Corinthians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at Corinthians 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Memphis Depay signs something — a contract at Corinthians or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Cacá trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
41 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Corinthians lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Corinthians have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Corinthians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Matheuzinho 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 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.
Nobody at Corinthians 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 words a physio says slowly. 48 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. André Ramalho will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Corinthians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Calebe 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.
“I watch every Corinthians game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Lokomotivi runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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.
0‑1 away to the standard of Grêmio. Nobody will pretend this was a scandal; the gap is real, it is measurable, and closing it is a project rather than a team talk.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Corinthians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Cacá 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.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Breno Bidon will call it something else in private.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Victor Cunha after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody at Corinthians 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.
Successful dribbles: 13. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Dieguinho will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Corinthians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Matheuzinho 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mauro Arambarri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Mauro Arambarri is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Matheuzinho trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Memphis Depay signs something — a contract at Corinthians or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Corinthians have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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 Corinthians, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Corinthians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
De Lucca 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.
Nobody at Corinthians 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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
0‑1 against Grêmio. Continental football is unforgiving about the things a domestic league lets a side get away with, and this was a night spent finding out which of those the club still has.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. André Ramalho will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Corinthians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mauro Arambarri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Zakaria Labyad 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Corinthians is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Vitinho has agreed terms with Fluminense for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Leonardo Nogueira is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Wesley Monteiro is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Pantera is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. De Lucca has just signed for Corinthians, and for once the answer mattered.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mauro Arambarri was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Marcelo has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Corinthians have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Corinthians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
“I watch every Corinthians game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Progreso runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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 Mauro Arambarri is on it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Corinthians, another week without a signature from Gui Negão.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Corinthians have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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 Corinthians, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Corinthians they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Corinthians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Nobody at Corinthians 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.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Corinthians people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from Urawa Reds for Daniel Fuzato 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Charles will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Corinthians the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Corinthians this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Jan 2028
Words at Corinthians training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mauro Arambarri 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Henrique Nogueira is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
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.
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 Daniel Fuzato has written the date down.