Football Season Guide

Cruzeiro EC

In


Dodô (def) Santos – on loan from Sampdoria, ITA; Luis Orejuela (def) Ajax, NED – on loan; Fabrício Bruno (ded) Chapecoense – return from loan; Jadson (mid) Fluminense; Rodriguinho (mid) Pyramids, EGY; Marquinhos Gabriel (mid) Al-Nasr, UAE, Pedro Rocha (att), Spartak Moscow, RUS – on loan; Vinícius Popó (att) youth system

Out


Lucas França (sp)(gk) Nacional, POR – on loan; Patrick Brey (sp)(def) Coritiba – on loan; Marcelo Hermes (sp)(def) Goiás – on loan; Manoel (sp)(def) Corinthians – on loan; Ezequiel (sp)(def) Fluminense; Bruno Silva (sp)(mid) Fluminense; F. Mancuello (sp)(mid) Toluca, MEX; De Arrascaeta (k)(mid) Flamengo; Rafael Sóbis (sp)(att) Internacional; Rafael Marques (sp)(att) São Caetano; Hernan Barcos (r)(att) Atletico Nacional, COL; Laércio (sp)(att) Ipatinga – on loan

2018 brought a mix of feelings: on one hand they grabbed the biggest prize award, the Brazilian Cup; however, they finished 7th in the league in a season with a huge investment made. 2019 started well with good performances in both Libertadores and Mineirão. The biggest part of preparing the squad for 2019 was to drop some of the players in excess the squad had while keeping the biggest assets still around. There was however a major blow in the departing of their best attacking player De Arrascaeta for the rivals Flamengo. Pedro Rocha has just arrived on loan from Russia; should he pick where he left one year ago at Grêmio, he can be a good replacement for Arrascaeta. Signing Rodriguinho was a major step for Cruzeiro that now possesses a great playmaker, something they clearly missed last season. Despite having let go of a few units and reducing the squad significantly, Cruzeiro still is one of the sides with the biggest depth in them, which makes Raposa ready again to face the always demanding season in Brazil. The fact that Fred seems definitely out of injury trouble is a big boost. The advanced age on almost all first team players may be a problem down the road.

Target


While not the absolute favourites, Cruzeiro will be one of the teams expected to be involved in the title race until very late.