Corinthians attacking midfielder back in squad after four months | OneFootball

Corinthians will travel to Maracanã Stadium on Sunday afternoon (13) at 5:30 p.m. (Brasília time) to face Flamengo in a match valid for the 27th round of the 2026 Brazilian Championship. The club from Parque São Jorge is looking to leave Rio de Janeiro with at least one point, as it currently sits in 12th place with 32 points — eight wins, eight draws, and 10 losses — just four points above the relegation zone.

The Alvinegro coaching staff has gained a homegrown option amid the difficulties and the squad’s limited depth this season. It is attacking midfielder Vitinho, who has been called up for this weekend’s match against Flamengo after recovering from a meniscus injury in his left knee. This year, he had also already dealt with problems in the hip area and has been unable to build consistency on the pitch — he has one goal in 21 appearances this season.

Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Agência Corinthians

The No. 11 has not played since April 30, when Corinthians beat Uruguay’s Peñarol 2-0 in a match valid for the group stage of the 2026 Conmebol Libertadores. Since then, he had not been included in the squad for any match. That day, he came on late in the game to replace Jesse Lingard and played for only two minutes. Since then, the player had been recovering from hip pain and a hamstring tendon injury. On July 15, he began physical transition work but, a few days later, ended up suffering the meniscus injury in his left knee.

At the end of last year, Vitinho also had a similar problem. On October 4, 2025, during Corinthians’ 3-0 win over Mirassol in Itaquera in the Brazilian Championship, the player injured the meniscus in his right knee, underwent arthroscopy, and only returned to the pitch on November 20 of that same year, in the 3-1 victory against São Paulo at Neo Química Arena in the final stretch of the Brasileirão.

Because of the proximity of the second leg of the Conmebol Libertadores quarterfinals against Argentina’s Estudiantes next Wednesday (16) at 9:30 p.m. (Brasília time) at Neo Química Arena, head coach Fernando Diniz is expected to field what is considered an alternative lineup. Among the new faces, center-back Iago Machado, just 17 years old and developed in Corinthians’ academy, is likely to get his first chance with Timão’s senior team. Yago Melo, who spent time in the Rio club’s youth system and is a starter for Alvinegro’s Under-20 team, is also among those called up.

Career path and time at Corinthians

Vitinho was signed by Corinthians in August 2025 on a free transfer after spells with Al-Ettifaq (2022/2023 to 2024/2025) and Al-Shabab (2023/2024 – loan), with the approval of head coach Dorival Júnior, who was in charge of Timão at the time and had already worked with the player at Flamengo in 2018. Wearing the Corinthians shirt, he has one goal and four assists in 38 appearances (13 as a starter) in a stint marked by some physical issues and inconsistency, which has kept him from establishing himself as a regular starter.

His only goal for Corinthians came on February 22, 2026, when, in stoppage time, he scored a brilliant goal that sent the match against Portuguesa at Canindé, in the Paulista Championship quarterfinals, to a penalty shootout. That day, the club from Parque São Jorge advanced to the semifinals after Hugo Souza proved decisive.

In addition to the hip injury that kept him out of Timão’s recent matches, Vitinho also suffered a meniscus injury in his right knee in October last year. He ended up being sidelined for a little over a month. At Corinthians, he was part of the title-winning squads for the Copa do Brasil (2025) and the Supercopa do Brasil (2026), against Vasco da Gama and Flamengo, respectively. The player has also had spells with Botafogo (where he came through the youth ranks), CSKA Moscow (Russia), Internacional, and Flamengo.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.