“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 The request is on a desk at Huracán, and it is not being withdrawn.
Juan Bisanz 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.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Leonardo Gil was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Alejandro Castro 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. Pablo Arias 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. Carlos Alberto Sánchez 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.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Marcelo Pérez was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.40. 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Huracán this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Huracán training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leonardo Gil 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.
Nobody at Huracán 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 asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Huracán people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Fabio Pereyra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
6 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.
The offer from Sheffield Wednesday for Nazareno Durán 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.
Juan Bisanz 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Leonardo Gil 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Natanael Samaniego and Huracán agree another 4 years.
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.
Leonardo Gil 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 Fernández was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The phone has started ringing about Nazareno Durán again, and this time the name on the line is Sheffield Wednesday. Huracán are listening politely and promising nothing.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Huracán will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Rodrigo Fernández trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Still no offer on the table, and Marcelo Pérez’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
In brief
The dugoutÓscar Cortés has become a man the manager trusts
Huracán have gone to Tigre 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.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Huracán have had the benefit 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 Huracán this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Rodrigo Cabral and Huracán agree another 4 years.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Fabio Pereyra 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Huracán, and both men came out saying it was fine.
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Nobody at Huracán 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 Huracán, another week without a signature from Gerónimo Ulibarri.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Huracán can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Universidad Catolica for Sebastián Meza 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Axel Bordón is living that version at Huracán, and it tends to show in the first month.
The fee is $120.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Morón drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
The paperwork is done: Axel Bordón joins from Güemes in a deal worth $100.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Leonardo Gil 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.
16 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Huracán lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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. Huracán will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Huracán asked and Mitre said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Leonardo Gil 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.
Estudiantes wanted more than $53.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Huracán training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Fernández is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 86 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.
Leonardo Gil 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 Fabio Pereyra 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 Óscar Cortés is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Óscar Cortés trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Huracán. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Huracán have no good answer.
95 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Huracán lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Huracán this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at Huracán training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leonardo Gil 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Tomás Sultani trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
In brief
BoardroomOpen for business: Huracán enter the window
The words a physio says slowly. 102 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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Tomás Sultani trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until César Ibáñez signs something — a contract at Huracán or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The words a physio says slowly. 50 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Huracán have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Patricio Pizarro will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Huracán the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Leonardo Gil 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Huracán training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fabio Pereyra 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Bruno Barticciotto trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Santiago Luján is on it.
Juan Bisanz 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 Leonardo Gil was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Huracán 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Huracán 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 Guillermo Enrique was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Huracán told Ignacio Pussetto something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Huracán, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
The dugoutSebastián Meza has become a man the manager trusts
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Fabio Pereyra 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.
Something was said to Bruno Barticciotto and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Óscar Romero has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Huracán, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Huracán is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
Juan Bisanz 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 Leonardo Gil was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Leonardo Gil and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Leonardo Gil trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Facundo Bianchi chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Santiago Luján will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Huracán the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Leonardo Gil 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Huracán training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Fernández is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
16 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Huracán, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Tahiel Peralta is 18, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
Nobody at Huracán 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 wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Independiente Rivadavia in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Two goals and a mark of 8.46 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Huracán this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
7 goals in one match, Bruno Barticciotto on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Huracán and Belgrano.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Fabio Pereyra 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.
Juan Bisanz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Leonardo Gil 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.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Cristian Núñez and Huracán agree another 2 years.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
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 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Facundo Bianchi to a room that had heard them before.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Patricio Pizarro will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Huracán the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Leonardo Gil 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 Rodrigo Fernández was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 18. 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.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Atlético Tucumán will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Huracán were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Santiago Luján will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Huracán the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Leonardo Gil 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 9.76. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Huracán.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Fabio Pereyra 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.
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.
0‑1 against Central Córdoba SdE, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Cristian Núñez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Huracán the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Patricio Pizarro has agreed terms with Lanús for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Huracán 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 Leonardo Gil was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Leonardo Gil and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Huracán training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Fernández is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
San Martín SJ will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Carlo Lattanzio has pre-agreed a move to Huracán, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Huracán scored in the 124th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Cristian Núñez 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.
Marked 7.59 on 16 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Leonardo Gil 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.
At 22 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Santiago Luján will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Huracán the goodbyes have quietly begun.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Santiago Luján 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.
Juan Bisanz 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 Leonardo Gil was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ignacio Pussetto provided it, and the 9.12 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 Huracán this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Huracán training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rodrigo Fernández is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
15 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.
There was no pressure on him and nowhere he had to be. Huracán lost a goal to a decision that took half a second and will be discussed all week.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Facundo Bianchi kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Huracán are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Tomás Sultani has just signed for Huracán, and for once the answer mattered.
Leonardo Gil 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.
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.
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Huracán training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Fabio Pereyra 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 dugout10 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑2 Facundo Bianchi left the room before anybody could ask which.
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 offer from Bnei Sakhnin for Cristian Núñez 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 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 Huracán hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Juan Bisanz and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Huracán training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Leonardo Gil 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 needed Facundo Waller to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Rosario Central, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
In brief
The dugoutJuan Bisanz knocks on the manager’s door