Atlético Goianiense have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Sousa are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
A new face in his position, and Juliano suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Sousa have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Roni signs something — a contract at Sousa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It gets no coverage and decides more signings than any coaching session does: somebody older has started staying behind with him, and it is beginning to show.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Bruno Centeno and Sousa agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Gabriel Amaral is the division's best young player this month
At 20 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Sousa will try very hard not to make too much of it.
The board have answered with money instead of encouragement, which is the only answer a manager ever wants. Spending it well is now entirely his problem.
A loan enquiry to Ferroviária: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Bruno Centeno
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Bruno Centeno has come out of that comparison in the side, and Sousa have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Sousa has been clear about where Diego Viana stands, which is more than many ever get.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
In brief
BoardroomOpen for business: Sousa enter the window
Roni 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.
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.29 on the card, and the Sousa support went home talking about one name.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Antônio Braga was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Sousa dressing room was either.
At 20 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. União defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Sousa know which stage they are at.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Sousa scored in the 93th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Gabriel Amaral provided it, and the 9.09 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Éverton Alemão and Sousa agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Antônio Braga kept it short after the 3‑2 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Hebert Cristian will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sousa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Rafael Chorão 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.
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Sousa will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Sousa have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Sousa will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Relâmpago is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Successful dribbles: 14. 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Lagarto defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sousa can pretend not to have heard.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 20-year-old it feels ownership of. Gabriel Amaral has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
A 1‑0 win over Barcelona de Ilhéus, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Sousa, another week without a signature from Hebert Cristian.
Leonardo Araujo is 16, and for one weekend he was the best of everybody his age in the division. Nobody should build a career on it and everybody quietly does.
“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 Sousa, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 16-year-old it feels ownership of. Leonardo Araujo has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 18 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Éder Cavalcante and Sousa agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Antônio Braga kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
At 16 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Hebert Cristian will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sousa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 37 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Sousa is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sousa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Sousa have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Hebert Cristian 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Éder Cavalcante is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
12 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 39 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Hebert Cristian 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 a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Sousa know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Sergipe defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
“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 Sousa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Rafael Chorão 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sousa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for João Vitor
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Hebert Cristian will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Sousa the goodbyes have quietly begun.
At 38 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.22 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Hebert Cristian has agreed terms with Chapecoense for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
It finished 1‑0, and it was Rafael Chorão’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Sousa.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Juliano is still paying for one afternoon at Sousa
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Antônio Braga, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Fábio Viana 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Eduardo Rocha 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sousa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nobody at Sousa is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
11 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.
“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 Sousa, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 38 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.06 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Sousa are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Antônio Braga on a 2‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Fábio Henrique has just signed for Sousa, and for once the answer mattered.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sousa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Davi Santos, and the manager let it.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Antônio Braga left the room before anybody could ask which.
Nobody sells a season ticket on a signing like this. Every manager who has been through a bad October wants one anyway, and Sousa have gone and got theirs early.
0‑2 against Atlético Goianiense, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Hebert Cristian 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.
There is a particular relief in a club addressing the thing its own crowd has been shouting about. Davi Santos arrives for exactly that job, and now he has to do it.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Antônio Braga kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Sousa know which stage they are at.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Cavalo is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Vitinho has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Henrique Costa has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Rodrigo Guimarães 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.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad10 Aug 2026
7 new faces, and Sousa 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.
Hebert Cristian 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.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Antônio Braga after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Squad3 Aug 2026
João Vitor falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sousa, and both men came out saying it was fine.