Defender out of favour under Dorival Júnior, a month without play

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Central do Timão

·1 October 2025

Defender out of favour under Dorival Júnior, a month without play

By Henrique Pereira / Central do Timão Newsroom

Signed amidst high expectations at the beginning of 2024 from Santos Laguna, Mexico, defender Félix Torres has struggled to establish himself at Corinthians. Despite having a run as a starter at the beginning of this year, the Ecuadorian made defensive errors that led to him losing his place in the team, especially since the arrival of Dorival Júnior.

The defender has gone a month without stepping onto the field in the Timão jersey. His last appearance was on August 27, when the Paulista Alvinegro beat Athletico-PR 1 x 0 at the Arena da Baixada, in the first leg of the Copa do Brasil quarterfinals. Since then, he has missed five matches for the team.

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Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Ag. Corinthians

During this period, Félix Torres was called up by the Ecuador national team to play in the final rounds of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. However, the defender only played in one of his country's matches, against Paraguay, where he only had five minutes on the field.

Before this period of inactivity, the Ecuadorian was used more often as a makeshift right-back than in his original position. In recent games, Dorival Júnior preferred to use players like João Pedro Tchoca, Cacá, and even Fabrizio Angileri in the defender's role, which highlights the player's loss of space.

During the mid-season transfer window, a departure of the defender was speculated and clubs from Major League Soccer (MLS), the United States league, showed interest in his signing. However, no deal was finalized.

To sign Félix Torres, Corinthians reached an agreement for the sum of 6.5 million dollars (about R$ 31.5 million) for 80% of his economic rights. However, the club was ordered by FIFA to pay an additional 6 million dollars to Santos Laguna for not fulfilling the established agreement.

The debt, in fact, led Timão to suffer a transfer ban in August and, with the applied interest, the debt has already exceeded R$ 40 million, according to information given by the club's president, Osmar Stabile.

Since joining Corinthians, Félix Torres has played 79 matches, 72 of them as a starter, with 37 wins, 17 draws, and 25 losses. In 2025, the defender played 27 times and participated in the conquest of the Paulista Championship.

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