Flamengo planning a ‘special’ season for De La Cruz | OneFootball

Player should only be fielded in important matches for Flamengo

Left out of the professional team's debut in 2026, De La Cruz will undergo a special plan throughout the season. This is because Flamengo has devised a different approach to have the player available for more matches this year.

In summary, Flamengo understands that it needs to better distribute the minutes that De La Cruz can play during the season. Therefore, according to GE, Filipe Luís will prioritize using the midfielder in important matches.

Thus, Flamengo is not expected to "waste" minutes with De La Cruz in Carioca matches. This is because, in recent seasons, the Uruguayan had his best performances in the State Championship and then was unable to maintain consistency due to a series of physical problems.

What does Flamengo intend to do?

Given De La Cruz's physical issues, Flamengo believes that load management with the midfielder is essential. To this end, Filipe Luís will decide which matches the Uruguayan can be rested for, as part of the planning together with Fla’s Medical Department.

Did De La Cruz undergo a medical procedure?

Yes! In short, the procedure was considered simple and used substances from the player's own body to stimulate the healing of injuries, using a regenerative medicine approach. Thus, doctors extracted blood from De La Cruz's hip bone to apply it to his left knee.

What happened to the midfielder?

It’s worth remembering that De La Cruz has a chronic injury in his right knee and, during 2025, began to suffer from inflammation in his left knee as well. Last year, the left side was the most bothersome and the one that kept the Uruguayan out of several Flamengo matches.

Not by chance, the Medical Department of Flamengo implemented a special protocol for De La Cruz throughout the 2025 season. For this reason, Fla’s Medical Department managed the player’s workload. Therefore, the idea is to maintain the plan in the current season to avoid serious injuries.

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