Alianza Petrolera will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Junior were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Christian Kofane has just signed for Junior, and for once the answer mattered.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Junior can pretend not to have heard.
Add another name to the list: APOEL have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Josen Escobar. The answer from Junior has not changed — yet.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Yerson Mosquera will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Junior the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
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.
23 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.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.49 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ignacio Molina will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Junior the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Conrad Harder 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.
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Junior lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Two goals and a mark of 8.09 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 Junior can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Devis Vásquez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Junior the goodbyes have quietly begun.
14 goals in 28 games at Flandria — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Junior updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Junior lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
First, on 78 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.
Player ratings11 Aug 2036
A brace, and Conrad Harder takes the afternoon — 8.70
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Conrad Harder provided it, and the 8.70 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Junior can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Samuel Velásquez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Junior the goodbyes have quietly begun.
22 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
33 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Junior lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Elías Báez had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Junior have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The offer from Brondby for Noah Sahsah 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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Junior is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Junior this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Junior 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 Junior 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 Junior, and it is not being withdrawn.
He arrived for a fee and leaves for a fraction of it. $339.7K of what Junior paid for Jorman Mendoza is money the club will not see again, and the boardroom will be asked about it for two seasons.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Bogota had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The offer from Deportivo Tachira for Alejandro Restrepo 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.
Caleb Yirenkyi 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.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Conrad Harder. 1‑0 against Millonarios, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
21 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Junior people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Match16 Jul 2036
Luka Romero wins it after the whistle should have gone
102 minutes played. Luka Romero found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Envigado went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Caleb Yirenkyi is living that version at Junior, and it tends to show in the first month.
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Junior have paid $7.4M for Caleb Yirenkyi, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
Junior had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Atletico Nacional, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 14 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Aguilas Doradas waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Junior is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The first defeat in 16 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Envigado; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
$7.4M on the table at Olympique Lyonnais. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Santa Fe paid $9.3M and Junior took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
16 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Santa Fe waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Junior is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Junior will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Olympique Lyonnais did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $22.6M for Ebenezer Akinsanmiro, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
The fee is $14.6M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Santa Fe drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Ebenezer Akinsanmiro has, at Junior, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 31 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Junior have done the hard part with Santa Fe, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The offer went to Olympique Lyonnais 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Junior have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The offer from Anderlecht for Matías Abaldo 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 Junior, and it is not being withdrawn.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Botafogo have kept their man, and Junior go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
14 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 39 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
18 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
“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 Junior, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and América Mineiro waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Junior is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Two goals and a mark of 8.83 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Santa Fe have kept their man, and Junior go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
13 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Junior have lost him in all but the paperwork.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Junior will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
58 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.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Deportes Tolima had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Junior can pretend not to have heard.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Luka Romero has, at Junior, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Junior will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Atletico Nacional waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Junior is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Junior can pretend not to have heard.
The fee is $2.0M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Atletico Nacional drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
The offer went to Dinamo Zagreb 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Piero Cari has, at Junior, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 62 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
17 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Player ratings2 Jun 2036
A brace, and Gustavo Nunes takes the afternoon — 8.51
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Gustavo Nunes provided it, and the 8.51 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Junior have gone to Santa Fe 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.
10 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Junior will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Junior can pretend not to have heard.
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 7.92 for the rest of it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Martín Gómez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Junior the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Luca Dahl Tomasson 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
SquadJhon Durán falls out with a teammate over standards
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Junior will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
9 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.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Junior is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Luca Dahl Tomasson was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
SquadJhon Durán falls out with a teammate over standards
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Junior will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
8 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.
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.
Player ratings12 May 2036
A brace, and Gustavo Nunes takes the afternoon — 8.55
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Gustavo Nunes provided it, and the 8.55 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 92 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Junior is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Junior heard it as anything else.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Jan Franc Lucumí has agreed terms with Deportes Tolima for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhon Durán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Junior will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Deportes Quindio will want this one forgotten quickly: 6‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Junior were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.00, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings28 Apr 2036
A brace, and Gustavo Nunes takes the afternoon — 8.51
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Gustavo Nunes provided it, and the 8.51 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Junior they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Luca Dahl Tomasson 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.
Squad28 Apr 2036
Words at Junior training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Durán 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Junior will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
5‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings21 Apr 2036
A brace, and Jhon Durán takes the afternoon — 8.89
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jhon Durán provided it, and the 8.89 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Junior can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Samuel Velásquez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Junior the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad21 Apr 2036
Jhon Durán 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. Junior will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 Junior, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Junior is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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 want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Junior heard it as anything else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhon Durán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
5‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings7 Apr 2036
A brace, and Conrad Harder takes the afternoon — 9.03
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Conrad Harder provided it, and the 9.03 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Chicago Fire had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
“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 Junior, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Soumaïla Diabaté will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Junior the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The offer from New York City for Santino Mambrín 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.
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 7.23 for the rest of it.
Squad7 Apr 2036
Jhon Durán 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Junior can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Chicago Fire for Ignacio Molina 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Junior 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 Junior is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad31 Mar 2036
Jhon Durán 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.
Luca Dahl Tomasson 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.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Pedro Lima wants continental football; whether Junior can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Junior will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Junior know it.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Junior people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Junior is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
11 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad24 Mar 2036
Words at Junior training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Durán 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.
Luca Dahl Tomasson 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.
0‑2 against Alianza Lima. 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.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Santino Mambrín 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 Junior they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad17 Mar 2036
Jhon Durán 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.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Christian Kofane has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Junior have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Marked 8.20 — 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 know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” New England Revolution had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Two goals and a mark of 8.18 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 Junior, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Junior they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Player ratings10 Mar 2036
Up for the corner, and Josen Escobar delivers — 7.92
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Josen Escobar scored, was marked 7.92, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Joaquín Panichelli obliged against Valledupar. 4‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Junior.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Junior can pretend not to have heard.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.43 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Yerson Mosquera scored, was marked 7.47, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Agustín Palavecino will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Junior the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Santino Mambrín has just signed for Junior, and for once the answer mattered.
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.
“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 Junior, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Nashville SC waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Junior is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Junior is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhon Durán 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 Junior, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lucca will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Junior the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad18 Feb 2036
Jhon Durán 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Junior this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A 2‑0 win over Atletico Bucaramanga, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Junior can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Chances created: 14. Not on the scoresheet and not remotely anonymous — a passing performance that pulled a defence apart without leaving a mark on the column that gets read.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Bryan Caicedo at his very best
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Soumaïla Diabaté will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Junior the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad11 Feb 2036
Words at Junior training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Durán 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 new man at Junior has worked with Pedro Lima before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Junior heard it as anything else.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Ignacio Molina has just signed for Junior, and for once the answer mattered.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Junior is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhon Durán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Conrad Harder 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.
5‑0, and Josen Escobar took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Junior tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings28 Jan 2036
A brace, and Gustavo Nunes takes the afternoon — 8.39
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Gustavo Nunes provided it, and the 8.39 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings28 Jan 2036
A brace, and Josen Escobar takes the afternoon — 8.33
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Josen Escobar provided it, and the 8.33 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Junior is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad28 Jan 2036
Jhon Durán 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.
“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 Junior, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Junior they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Jhon Durán wants continental football; whether Junior can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Yéicar Perlaza reports back to Junior with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Squad21 Jan 2036
Words at Junior training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Durán 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.
Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.
The new man at Junior has worked with Pedro Lima before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Agustín Palavecino 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 settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Junior people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The deal that would have taken Sebastián Boselli to Atletico Bucaramanga has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Junior with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Junior can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Junior they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Squad14 Jan 2036
Jhon Durán 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.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Santino Mambrín has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Junior have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
In brief
The dugoutPedro Lima back under a manager who knows him
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Junior have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Junior can pretend not to have heard.
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 Junior have had the benefit of it.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Yerson Mosquera reports back to Junior with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Conrad Harder 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 worse way to lose a footballer. Soumaïla Diabaté 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.
Squad7 Jan 2036
Words at Junior training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Durán 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 new man at Junior has worked with Pedro Lima before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Fortaleza CEIF waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Junior is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
João Pedro 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Bryan Caicedo has just signed for Junior, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad31 Dec 2035
Words at Junior training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Durán 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 have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Junior know it.
The new man at Junior has worked with Joaquín Panichelli before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Position 2, 88 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Junior 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.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Junior have done the hard part with Atletico Nacional, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Atletico Nacional wanted more than $2.6M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Alejandro Restrepo has just signed for Junior, and for once the answer mattered.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Santa Fe have kept their man, and Junior go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
4‑0 against Universidad Catolica, and a performance that will change how the rest of the competition talks about this club. Reputations in continental football are built in single evenings and this was one.
Done, and with games to spare. Next season has floodlit nights against clubs from other countries in it, and the accounts have a line they did not have last year.
$37.2M was the most the club would pay and Palmeiras 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.
Colo-Colo paid $27.2M and Junior 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 Junior people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Ciro Armoa had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Junior have gone to Palmeiras 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Junior have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Kaio César had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
“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 Junior, and it is not being withdrawn.
Atletico Nacional paid $5.5M and Junior 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. Pedro Lima is living that version at Junior, and it tends to show in the first month.
The offer went to Santa Fe 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sporting Cristal have kept their man, and Junior go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
1‑1 against San Lorenzo, 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.
“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 Junior, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer went to Atletico Nacional 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.
$1.3M on the table at Atletico Nacional. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Junior 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 Jhon Durán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Junior is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad26 Nov 2035
Words at Junior training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Durán 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 have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Junior can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
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 Gonzalo Gelini 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 Junior, another week without a signature from Dermane Karim.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Junior have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Junior can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Junior they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhon Durán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Junior hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
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
The dugoutConrad Harder asks for a word with the manager
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Junior can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Junior heard it as anything else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Misael Aguirre will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Junior the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Matías Moreno and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Nov 2035
Words at Junior training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Durán 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.
With 7 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.
“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 Junior, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Junior 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 Junior hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Junior this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Nov 2035
Words at Junior training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Durán 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 Junior 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 dugout5 Nov 2035
Yehvann Diouf is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
In brief
The dugoutGustavo Nunes asks for a word with the manager
1‑0 against Caracas, 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.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 88 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Junior can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mikel Amondarain will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Junior the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
Gonzalo Gelini was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
SquadJhon Durán falls out with a teammate over standards
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Junior can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Martín Gómez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Junior the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Gonzalo Gelini 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.
Squad22 Oct 2035
Words at Junior training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Durán 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.
A 2‑1 win over Deportivo Cali, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Junior know 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 Junior can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Junior they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Gonzalo Gelini and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Oct 2035
Jhon Durán 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 not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Junior can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Junior can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Nobody at Junior 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.
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.
At 38 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.28 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mauricio Benítez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Junior the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Junior heard it as anything else.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
In brief
SquadWords at Junior training over how hard people work
A 1‑0 win over America de Cali, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
“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 Junior, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Junior is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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.
9 matches without defeat, and then Atletico Nacional. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
Squad1 Oct 2035
Words at Junior training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Durán 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Junior can pretend not to have heard.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Nicolás Dubersarsky wants continental football; whether Junior can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Junior is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhon Durán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Sebastián Boselli 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.
“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 Junior, and it is not being withdrawn.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Junior is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Lautaro Martínez 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 Jhon Durán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Junior 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mauricio Benítez will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Junior the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Junior 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 Junior, and it is not being withdrawn.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Conrad Harder has, at Junior, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad10 Sep 2035
Jhon Durán 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.
Alianza Petrolera will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Junior were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
The offer from FC Nordsjaelland for Matías Moreno 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 Junior, 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. 7.99 at 38, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mikel Amondarain will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Junior the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Gonzalo Gelini 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Junior can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Junior they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Gonzalo Gelini 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.
Squad27 Aug 2035
Jhon Durán 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.
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.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Junior can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Lautaro Martínez provided it, and the 8.88 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Junior can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Junior they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. David Martínez wants continental football; whether Junior can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad20 Aug 2035
Words at Junior training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Durán 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.
Dermane Karim 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.
18 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Junior lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
4‑0, and Jhon Durán took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Junior tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings13 Aug 2035
A brace, and Jhon Durán takes the afternoon — 8.50
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Jhon Durán provided it, and the 8.50 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Junior have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Junior is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.44 at 38, 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.” Junior have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Junior lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
At 37 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.90, and nobody on the pitch better.
Player ratings6 Aug 2035
Up for the corner, and Josen Escobar delivers — 7.96
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Josen Escobar scored, was marked 7.96, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Junior heard it as anything else.
The offer from Vancouver Whitecaps for Kevin Filling 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. Mikel Amondarain will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Junior the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhon Durán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
35 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Junior lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Junior people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Deportivo Pereira had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The deal that would have taken Carlos Alberto Campos to Jaguares has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Junior with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Tomás Palacios has, at Junior, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Mikel Amondarain 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.
The first defeat in 8 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Santa Fe; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
In brief
SquadMatías Moreno falls out with a teammate over standards
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Junior lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Junior have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Ismaël Koné had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Two goals and a mark of 8.03 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 Junior can pretend not to have heard.
At 37 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 49 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 clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Junior people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs have shaken hands with Atletico Nacional; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
56 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Junior lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $22.3M has been paid because Josen Escobar is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
59 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.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Junior have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Josen Escobar has just signed for Junior, and for once the answer mattered.
Gonzalo Gelini 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
Transfer targetsNo deal for Issa Traoré at that price
SquadMatías Moreno falls out with a teammate over standards
46 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
63 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Junior lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Junior and America de Cali have settled on $22.3M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Junior people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Junior can pretend not to have heard.
The offer from Coritiba for João Pedro 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 an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.93 at 37, 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.” Junior have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
In brief
SquadElías Báez arrives at the club he grew up with
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Junior have lost him in all but the paperwork.
70 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Junior lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Junior can pretend not to have heard.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Gonzalo Gelini reports back to Junior with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Nicolás Dubersarsky provided it, and the 8.33 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.17 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The offer from Cuiabá for Kaio César 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.
45 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.
78 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Junior lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Junior 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 85 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Junior have lost him in all but the paperwork.
51 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 a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Carlos Alberto Campos provided it, and the 8.53 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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 Junior, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.95 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
93 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Junior lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The offer from Vasco da Gama for João Pedro 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.
Millonarios have accepted the money. What Junior do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Junior can pretend not to have heard.
$1.2M on the table at Once Caldas. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Junior heard it as anything else.
Gonzalo Gelini 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.
44 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.
102 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Junior lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
5‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings28 May 2035
A brace, and Julio Enciso takes the afternoon — 8.86
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Julio Enciso provided it, and the 8.86 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Two goals and a mark of 8.39 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 Junior this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 May 2035
Julio Enciso 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Mamady Diambou has just signed for Junior, and for once the answer mattered.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gabriel Sigua will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Junior the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The first defeat in 9 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Independiente Medellin; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matías Moreno was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
43 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Louey Ben Farhat obliged against Real Cartagena. 3‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Junior.
“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 Junior, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Lautaro Martínez provided it, and the 8.96 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The 89th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Lautaro Martínez decided nobody was going anywhere. Atletico Nacional had no time left to answer.
45 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.
1 for Gabriel Sigua, marked 7.97, 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.
“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 Junior hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
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.
Player ratings7 May 2035
A brace, and Julio Enciso takes the afternoon — 9.26
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Julio Enciso provided it, and the 9.26 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“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 Junior, and it is not being withdrawn.
“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 Junior hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
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.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Junior can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Junior they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad7 May 2035
Words at Junior training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Julio Enciso 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Junior have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
6 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 agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Junior is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.86 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Squad30 Apr 2035
Words at Junior training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gustavo Nunes 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.
Lautaro Martínez 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Junior they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
40 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.
“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 Junior, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 37 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.08 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
1 for Juma Bah, marked 7.77, 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.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Matías Moreno wants continental football; whether Junior can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Junior can pretend not to have heard.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Junior can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
7.99, 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.
Gonzalo Gelini 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Junior they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad9 Apr 2035
Matías Moreno 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.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Junior know it.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Junior will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Junior people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Junior can pretend not to have heard.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Junior they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Junior 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 Julio Enciso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. David Martínez wants continental football; whether Junior can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
39 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 a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Lautaro Martínez provided it, and the 9.09 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 24 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Junior people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Junior can pretend not to have heard.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.12 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
1‑2 against Santa Fe, and an evening that measured the gap rather than the ninety minutes. Nothing about it was a disgrace and nothing about it was close.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Junior will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Junior have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Junior, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Junior is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad19 Mar 2035
Words at Junior training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matías Moreno 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 39 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Junior can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Junior people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” New England Revolution had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 12 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Julio Enciso was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Junior this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
37 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.
12 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Junior will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
At 37 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 9.79, and nobody on the pitch better.
Player ratings5 Mar 2035
A brace, and Kaio César takes the afternoon — 8.23
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Kaio César provided it, and the 8.23 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
35 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
10 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.
1‑0 against Santa Fe, 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.
93 minutes played. Lautaro Martínez found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Santa Fe went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Junior will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 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. Jeremía Recoba will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Junior the goodbyes have quietly begun.
34 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Junior will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Junior can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Louey Ben Farhat has just signed for Junior, and for once the answer mattered.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Junior they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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.
Gonzalo Gelini 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.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 69 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
“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 offer from Mjällby for Kevin Filling 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Emiliano Martínez has just signed for Junior, and for once the answer mattered.
Gonzalo Gelini 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.
33 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Junior will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Malick Yalcouyé will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Junior the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Junior heard it as anything else.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.81 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Kevin Filling has, at Junior, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Junior will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Two goals and a mark of 9.45 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
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.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Junior is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad29 Jan 2035
Words at Junior training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Durán 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.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Junior will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
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.
4 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 offer from Queretaro for Gabriel Sigua 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.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Junior will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Junior can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Junior they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Gonzalo Gelini 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 Jhon Durán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gustavo Nunes trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 108 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Junior have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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 Junior, and it is not being withdrawn.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Carlos Alberto Campos reports back to Junior with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Junior they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Fabian Caicedo 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.
Gonzalo Gelini 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 Jhon Durán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad8 Jan 2035
17 new faces, and Junior are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Junior will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Millonarios keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Deportivo Cali waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Junior is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
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 Junior have had the benefit of it.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Junior can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Joel Flecha will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Junior the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Jhon Durán 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.
Independiente Medellin wanted more than $620.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Junior people have started saying his name in the past tense.
93 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.
$8.8M on the table at Millonarios. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
“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 Junior, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Junior heard it as anything else.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $10.0M — a club that wants Joel Canchimbo enough to be asked twice.
31 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
3‑0 against Boca Juniors, and a performance that will change how the rest of the competition talks about this club. Reputations in continental football are built in single evenings and this was one.
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Junior have paid $21.8M for Matías Abaldo, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Lautaro Martínez provided it, and the 8.79 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Junior people have started saying his name in the past tense.
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 Junior have had the benefit of it.
The clubs have shaken hands with Boca Juniors; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Junior have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The shirt still fits. Tomás Aranda is back at Junior, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Junior is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The deal with Millonarios 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Yéicar Perlaza has, at Junior, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Junior have gone to Once Caldas 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.
2‑0 against Sporting Cristal, 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.
The clubs have shaken hands with Atletico Nacional; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Junior have gone to Atletico Nacional 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.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Julio Enciso wants continental football; whether Junior can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
The offer from Cuiabá for Viery 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.
Lautaro Martínez 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 Junior is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Junior can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad27 Nov 2034
Words at Junior training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Durán 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 was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Junior has been clear about where Leandrinho stands, which is more than many ever get.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Junior, 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.
Lautaro Martínez 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Junior they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad20 Nov 2034
Words at Junior training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jhon Durán 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 the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Johan Rojas wants continental football; whether Junior can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Junior will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Nobody at Junior 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.
1‑1 against Cerro Porteno, 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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. David Martínez has, at Junior, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Junior heard it as anything else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ronaldo Pájaro will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Junior the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Matías Moreno 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 have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Junior can pretend not to have heard.
“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.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Junior can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Junior they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhon Durán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Junior 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 Gustavo Nunes trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
3‑0. Nights like this are why clubs spend decades trying to qualify for this competition, and they arrive perhaps twice in that time. Everybody who was in the ground will describe it badly for years.
93 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.
Position 1 on 93 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Two goals and a mark of 8.15 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 Junior, and it is not being withdrawn.
Lautaro Martínez 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mateus Lusuardi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Junior the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhon Durán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Gustavo Nunes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Junior this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Junior they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jhon Durán was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Junior will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Junior, another week without a signature from Yerson Mosquera.
Nobody at Junior 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 Yerson Mosquera trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
7 goals in 18 games at Alianza Petrolera — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Junior updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
2‑1 against Boca Juniors, and a performance that will be described to people who were not there for the rest of the season. Carlos Alberto Campos was at the centre of the description.
“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 Junior, and it is not being withdrawn.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Matías Moreno wants continental football; whether Junior can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Junior is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Marco Libra 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.