Corinthians loanee has not featured for his new club in over a month | OneFootball

On loan from Corinthians to Universidad Católica of Ecuador until the end of 2026, left-back Diego Palacios has now gone over a month without playing for his home country’s team. Even without any physical issues, the player has not featured in the club’s last three matches.

The 26-year-old defender was officially announced by Universidad Católica on January 24. A day after the announcement, he was already available to coach Diego Martínez and took part in a friendly against Sporting Cristal of Peru, coming off the bench.

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His second and last appearance so far took place on February 5. On that occasion, he came on in the second half of the 1-0 win over Juventud de Las Piedras of Uruguay, in a match valid for the preliminary round of the Copa Libertadores. Palacios played for about 12 minutes.

Since then, the left-back has not been used again. In the return match against Juventud, which ended with the Ecuadorian team’s elimination on penalties, he remained on the bench without being called upon. In addition, he was left out even of the squad list for the matches against Mushuc Runa and Leones del Norte, the latter played on Sunday in the Ecuadorian Football Championship.

Palacios arrived at Corinthians in 2024 surrounded by expectations to take over the starting left-back position. The Ecuadorian had been performing well for Los Angeles FC in the United States and signed a contract with the São Paulo club valid until December 2027.

However, his time at Timão was marked by physical problems. The player faced several injuries to his left knee, a situation that even raised internal questions about the club’s medical department. Over two years at Corinthians, he played in only four matches.

In August last year, the left-back was loaned to FC Karpaty Lviv of Ukraine. There, he also had few opportunities: just two matches played in six months, and he was left out of the squad since October 2025.

Then, in January this year, Corinthians arranged a new loan, this time to Universidad Católica, with a deal running until the end of 2026. The transfer also had a financial impact for the São Paulo club, which estimates saving around R$ 2.6 million in wages during the loan period.

At the moment, the left-back is still waiting for a new chance to play. Eliminated from the Libertadores, Universidad Católica now only has the Ecuadorian Championship on its calendar for the rest of the season.

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