Palmeiras are little by little unloading dead weight in the squad. Midfielder Régis never progressed and has been returned to Sport. Today, fullback Leandro Almeida signed with Internacional, on loan, for the rest of the season. Every palmeirense jumping with joy, no irony.
The future of Fernando Tobio remains uncertain. In 2015, after losing space in the squad and facing personal issues, Tobio made clear his desire to leave, more or less forcing a transfer to Boca Juniors. His time now up at the Argentine club, Boca initially announced they would not evoke their right to purchase. As a return to Palmeiras was practically ruled out, negotiations with Flamengo started. Yesterday the Rio de Janeiro club announced they had instead opted for Réver, from Internacional. This explains [sic] why Inter went after Leandro Almeida. Full circle, with Tobio as bystander and his contract with Palmeiras running until end of 2019. However, rumours yesterday claim Boca have changed their mind and are signing Tobio for three years, liberating him from Palmeiras at a US$ 2,7 million price tag.
The supposedly promising Chilean midfielder Arancibia, by some dubbed “the new Valdivia”, did not see his contract renewed with Palmeiras. Youth division manager Sampaio says there has been an accelerated development among players competing for the same position, like Arthur and Kauê, making Arancibia superfluous. The Chilean arrived at Palmeiras in April 2015, suffered a series of injuries and never caused much of an impression.
Midfielder Arouca had an arthroscopy last week, treating a minor knee condition. Expectations are for a speedy recovery. Check out his message to fans on social media, with a picture of him undergoing the procedure.
Palmeiras yesterday confirmed that a urine sample from striker Alecsandro, collected on 3 April after the 1-0 victory against Corinthians for the São Paulo championship, tested positive for steroids. A second test will be conducted early next week. More info to follow.
Palmeiras finished the U17 World Club championship as runner-up to Real Madrid, the title being decided in a penalty shootout after a 2-2 draw at full time. Our young players were very close to the title, conceding the draw only a few minutes from stoppage time. Nevertheless, a splendid campaign, showing Palmeiras’ relatively recent investments in the youth divisions are paying off.
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The organised supporter group Mancha Verde has announced it is expelling nine members, identified as participants in last Sunday’s violent outbreak at the Mané Garrincha stadium in Brasilia, where Palmeiras beat Flamengo 1-2. The Mancha also say they will cooperate with the police. Both these acts are nothing short of a mini-revolution if considering the organisation’s track record. Let us hope this is the beginning of a new Mancha Verde.
Also Palmeiras are cooperating with the police, having identified 17 of the troublemakers as Avanti members and excluded them from the supporter programme. In addition, Palmeiras are studying the possibility to take these supporters to court for “dishonouring the name of the club” and possibly inflicting punishment on Palmeiras from authorities.
The strained relationship between Palmeiras and Allianz Parque constructor/manager WTorre reached new heights as the “partner” announced Palmeiras would not have access to the stadium on yet another home game, as on that date it would be used for a screening of the movie “Independence Day: Resurgence”.
The contract between Palmeiras and WTorre is a very sad piece of work: Palmeiras have no means of vetoing dates and events as long as WTorre pays a specific fine (which, by the way, the construction company has failed to do). Still, frustration felt by Palmeiras supporters have been somewhat “under control” due to class acts like Iron Maiden, Katy Perry and Paul McCartney being the cause for Palmeiras having to play elsewhere. Now, expel Palmeiras in order to promote a movie screening?! Supporters went nuts when they learnt about this and within hours, campaigns were drawn up to put pressure on the organisers. The protests soon escalated to a promise: go through with the plans, and we will sabotage your event, making more noise around and inside the stadium than you could possibly imagine.
I am absolutely convinced our supporters would have won this tug-a-war, but we will never know: the Brazilian Football Federation accepted Palmeiras’ request and anticipated the date of the game, avoiding a clash.
Now, that was yesterday. Today supporters learnt that yet another event is planned, exactly on the date Palmeiras would receive Santos, this time in order to conduct a religious service on the premises. The “ThereWillBeNoSceening” hashtag was quickly replaced with a “ThereWillBeNoService” equivalent, climbing the ranks in no time. The message seems clear enough: no third party event at the Allianz Parque will be peaceful unless conceived in harmony with Palmeiras and Palmeiras’ supporters.
As you notice, a week full of excitement, the major one still ahead of us: Sunday’s derby. Why not raise the adrenaline level a notch or two? It is easy to place a bet, you know…
Scoppia che la vittoria è nostra!
ANYTHING PALMEIRAS 