“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 The request is on a desk at San Lorenzo, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Lorenzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo Farías was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Valentín Fernández has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Daniel Godoy is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
19 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Lorenzo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” San Lorenzo 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 The request is on a desk at San Lorenzo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Gastón Hernández was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Nobody at San Lorenzo will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at San Lorenzo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
27 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. San Lorenzo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The offer from Persik for Alejo Córdoba 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.
Gastón Hernández 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.
Add another name to the list: Livorno have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Branco Salinardi. The answer from San Lorenzo has not changed — yet.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Facundo Farías was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Gustavo Del Prete is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and José Devecchi trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 34 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.
“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 offer from San Marcos de Arica for Branco Salinardi 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.
Gastón Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Words at San Lorenzo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Farías 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 done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one San Lorenzo will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
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 dugoutJosé Devecchi knocks on the manager's door
43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Lorenzo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Cerro waiting with a shirt. Nobody at San Lorenzo is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 offer from Estudiantes for Manuel Insaurralde 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.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at San Lorenzo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Facundo Farías 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.
José Devecchi 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.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The words a physio says slowly. 52 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 San Lorenzo 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 San Lorenzo can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” San Lorenzo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Gastón Hernández was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The name of Manuel Insaurralde has come up in conversations San Lorenzo were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Manuel Insaurralde and San Lorenzo agree another 3 years.
60 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. San Lorenzo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what San Lorenzo can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” San Lorenzo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Ramiro Centurión has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Fabricio Díaz will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Lorenzo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Gastón Hernández 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
The name of Facundo Gulli has come up in conversations San Lorenzo were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolás Tripichio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
67 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. San Lorenzo lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Qualification is done, and next season the floodlights come on for something bigger. A stage for the players, oxygen for the accounts and a passport for everybody else.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Tacuarembo waiting with a shirt. Nobody at San Lorenzo is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” San Lorenzo 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 San Lorenzo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Uriel Ojeda and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolás Tripichio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boca Juniors pay $170.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
4‑0 against Universidad de Chile, 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.
76 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Lorenzo 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. San Lorenzo 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 San Lorenzo 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 San Lorenzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The phone has started ringing about Mathías de Ritis again, and this time the name on the line is Tacuarembo. San Lorenzo are listening politely and promising nothing.
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. San Lorenzo have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” San Lorenzo have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mathías de Ritis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Lorenzo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Gastón Hernández was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Lorenzo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Gastón Hernández and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at San Lorenzo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Tripichio 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Gastón Hernández has his answer from San Lorenzo; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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 Del Prete.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“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 San Lorenzo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mauricio Cardillo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Lorenzo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
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 Abrego is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Martín Río trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at San Lorenzo. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Facundo Altamirano will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Lorenzo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Lorenzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at San Lorenzo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Tripichio is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and San Lorenzo will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Facundo Gulli has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
2‑0 against Penarol, and a performance that will be described to people who were not there for the rest of the season. Rodrigo Auzmendi was at the centre of the description.
Successful dribbles: 27. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at San Lorenzo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Gastón Hernández was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nahuel Barrios and San Lorenzo agree another 3 years.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Gastón Hernández will call it something else in private.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. José Devecchi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Lorenzo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Gastón Hernández 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Franco Lorenzón, and the manager let it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Facundo Gulli falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Something was said to Gastón Hernández and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Emiliano Amor trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nahuel Barrios will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Lorenzo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what San Lorenzo can pretend not to have heard.
Gastón Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at San Lorenzo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Tripichio 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at San Lorenzo 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 San Lorenzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Gimnasia y Esgrima tried to reorganise, San Lorenzo did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Marked 8.10 — 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.
Something was said to Rodrigo Auzmendi and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“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 San Lorenzo, and it is not being withdrawn.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Manuel Insaurralde will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Lorenzo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Gastón Hernández 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Nahuel Romero is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mathías de Ritis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at San Lorenzo, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The words a physio says slowly. 18 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.
0‑0 against Universidad de Chile, 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.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Rodrigo Auzmendi provided it, and the 8.79 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. José Devecchi will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Lorenzo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Gastón Hernández and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
25 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Lorenzo 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 San Lorenzo can pretend not to have heard.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nahuel Barrios will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Lorenzo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Gastón Hernández and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at San Lorenzo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Tripichio 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.
12 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by José Luis Castro to a room that had heard them before.
33 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Lorenzo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
0‑3 against Fluminense. The honest reading is not that the players were poor; it is that the distance between this club and that one is currently measured in things money takes years to buy.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Facundo Gulli did not need any: 8.12, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at San Lorenzo 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 San Lorenzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
7 goals in one match, Alexis Cuello on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of San Lorenzo and Boca Juniors.
42 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Lorenzo lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Renate had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Lorenzo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Gonzalo Abrego scored, was marked 7.99, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Manuel Insaurralde 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at San Lorenzo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Tripichio is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Lorenzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 16. 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Lorenzo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Gastón Hernández 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at San Lorenzo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Tripichio is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The name of Nahuel Arias has come up in conversations San Lorenzo were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Alexis Cuello has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Teo Rodríguez Pagano has come out of that comparison in the side, and San Lorenzo have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Lumezzane waiting with a shirt. Nobody at San Lorenzo is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Lorenzo they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The offer from Villarreal for Nahuel Arias 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 rules permit it and it stings anyway. Nahuel Barrios has agreed terms with Talleres for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Marked 6.92 on 13 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Uriel Ojeda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The offer from Persik for Mathías de Ritis 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 no worse way to lose a footballer. Mathías de Ritis has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Santiago Torres will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Lorenzo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at San Lorenzo this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at San Lorenzo training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicolás Tripichio 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 2‑0 win over Central Córdoba SdE, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. José Devecchi has agreed terms with Estudiantes for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at San Lorenzo is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Gastón Hernández was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The offer from Alavés for Teo Rodríguez Pagano 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Lorenzo 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nicolás Tripichio and San Lorenzo agree another 3 years.
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Facundo Gulli 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mauricio Cardillo will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Lorenzo the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Add another name to the list: Celta have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ignacio Perruzzi. The answer from San Lorenzo has not changed — yet.
Gastón Hernández and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicolás Tripichio was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
12 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.