$410.0K on the table at Vasco da Gama. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
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.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Luis Felipe has, at Vila Nova, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Vila Nova training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Henrique Trevisan 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Moreirense have kept their man, and Vila Nova go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Vila Nova have made the call to River Plate. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
A loan enquiry to Manchester United: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Vila Nova people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Marquinhos Gabriel 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.
Vila Nova asked and Valladolid said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Vila Nova training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. João Vieira 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.
Vila Nova have made the call to Racing Club. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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 competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Marquinhos Gabriel keeps the shirt for now, at Vila Nova's convenience rather than his own.
Vila Nova offered $2.7M; Monte Azul said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Marquinhos Gabriel 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.
Vila Nova have made the call to Sport Recife. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
5 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 system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Nobody at Vila Nova 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.
Vila Nova have gone to Monte Azul 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.
Tiago Pagnussat 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 Dec 2026
Words at Vila Nova training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Henrique Trevisan is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Half the programme played, position 14, 21 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
8 matches without a win, and then this, against Operário Ferroviário. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
João Vieira 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 players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Antônio Teixeira could afford to be generous.
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.
8 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.
8 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Vila Nova can tell you which week it ends in.
Marquinhos Gabriel 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 dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Antônio Teixeira was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Vila Nova dressing room was either.
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.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Novorizontino? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Vila Nova, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Marquinhos Gabriel 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.
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 Gustavinho is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Rafa Silva signs something — a contract at Vila Nova or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
5 clean sheets from 11 appearances at São Paulo. That is the whole of a goalkeeper’s job done properly, and it is being done a long way from the club that owns him.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 7 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vila Nova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
João Vieira 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 the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 6 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Rafa Silva 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.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Nathan Camargo has come out of that comparison in the side, and Vila Nova have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
Marked 6.99. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Antônio Teixeira chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Nobody at Vila Nova 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.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vila Nova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
4 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Vila Nova can tell you which week it ends in.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
14 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Antônio Teixeira to a room that had heard them before.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Vila Nova is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Vila Nova can tell you which week it ends in.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and João Vieira was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Willian Formiga, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Oct 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 Teixeira left the room before anybody could ask which.
Athletico Paranaense arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Vila Nova have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vila Nova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Marcelo Amaral 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.
Nobody at Vila Nova 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.
Criciúma next, and one man in the Vila Nova dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Vila Nova has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Henrique Trevisan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Cristhian Subero and Vila Nova agree another 2 years.
A mark of 7.13, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Antônio Teixeira was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Vila Nova dressing room was either.
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.
Successful dribbles: 24. 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.
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.
Marquinhos Gabriel 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 João Vieira was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
13 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.
A mark of 7.15, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Antônio Teixeira was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Vila Nova dressing room was either.
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.
Successful dribbles: 33. 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.
Marquinhos Gabriel 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.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Vila Nova are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
A mark of 7.72, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout21 Sep 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 Teixeira kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
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 Gustavinho is on it.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Janderson’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Vila Nova needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Miguel Jacquet is living that version at Vila Nova, and it tends to show in the first month.
Rafa Silva 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Rodrygo Fernandes is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Matheus Soares is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Tiago Pagnussat 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 easiest signature of my career.” Dellatorre and Vila Nova agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Vila Nova training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. João Vieira 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.20 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vila Nova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
A 1‑0 win over Athletic Club, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
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.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Antônio Teixeira on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Henrique Trevisan is living that version at Vila Nova, and it tends to show in the first month.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Marquinhos Gabriel 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Vila Nova training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Henrique Trevisan is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 101th minute. Goiânia will replay every second of the added time for a week.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: another club keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Vila Nova this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.53 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Marquinhos Gabriel and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Victor Lube has just signed for Vila Nova, and for once the answer mattered.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. João Borne has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Vila Nova have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Pedro 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Fábio Peixoto 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Igor Correia is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Marquinhos Gabriel and Vila Nova agree another 2 years.
0‑2 to CRB, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Vila Nova training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Janderson 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.
10 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.