How Flamengo plan to keep De la Cruz available for more games in 2026 | OneFootball

Flamengo have mapped out tighter workload management for De la Cruz in 2026 after a knee regenerative procedure, and he missed Wednesday’s derby with Vasco at the Maracanã.

According to Globo.com, the club will ration his minutes across the calendar, avoiding lower-priority fixtures such as the Campeonato Carioca to reduce physical setbacks.

Load control will be aligned with Filipe Luís’s plans, preserving key tactical sessions and compensating with gym work. The head coach will decide which matches to rest him.

The plan also factors in the World Cup and a likely Uruguay call-up, with the aim of keeping him available on his return after a short, high-intensity tournament.

Flamengo cite Arrascaeta’s 2025 programme as the template, when strict early-season control preceded his best campaign, 65 games, 25 goals and 20 assists.

De la Cruz remains central to the project. His camp asked about a potential price late last season, but the board said he was not for sale and enquiries went no further.

He did not have surgery, instead a regenerative procedure using bone-marrow stem cells in his knees. The club have liaised with Uruguayan medics and are confident his minutes can rise in 2026. He has returned to on-grass work, still separate from the group.

His output fell year on year, from 3,134 minutes in 41 games in 2024 to 2,066 in 34 in 2025, with two goals and six assists dropping to one and none. At River Plate his single-season peak was 48 matches in 2021.

Source: Globo.com