Peñarol president on move for Flamengo’s De La Cruz: “He wants to come”

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Coluna do Fla

·28 July 2026

Peñarol president on move for Flamengo’s De La Cruz: “He wants to come”

Ignacio Ruglio spoke about the negotiations for Flamengo’s midfielder

Between De La Cruz and Peñarol (URU), everything is agreed. Only an agreement with Flamengo is still missing. The person who revealed the status of the negotiations was the president of the Uruguayan club, Ignacio Ruglio. The executive emphasized that the midfielder is interested in playing for the club he supports, but admitted that the talks are not simple.

— We started talking with the player and, well, he wants to spend some time here in his country. He has already said he is a fan of the club. He wasn’t getting all the minutes he wanted. So, well, we started sounding out the player’s interest and had some conversations with the president (Bap) and another with the sporting director (José Boto). These things are very difficult to make happen, but if you don’t try, they definitely won’t happen. We’ve been at this for almost 25 days now —, Ruglio began.

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— In fact, I myself told Nico (De la Cruz) yesterday that I really didn’t know how it had leaked. The journalist who published it is my friend, but I really had nothing to do with it. And he told me: “Well, we stayed quiet for quite a while, so it’s normal that it could happen.” There isn’t much more to it than that. We’re seeing whether there’s any possibility and trying, but knowing that they are very difficult players to bring in —, he added in an interview with the YouTube channel ‘El Espectador Deportes’.

WHAT IS DE LA CRUZ’S PHYSICAL CONDITION?

De La Cruz missed Flamengo’s match against São Paulo due to physical issues, according to a statement made by coach Leonardo Jardim. However, Ignacio Ruglio guarantees that the player is fit and ready to help Peñarol in the second half of the season.

— He says he’s fine, that he’s training normally and that he’s ready to play. In fact, we have something that was done with him in the national team that also shows he is fine. In other words, all the tests will be done later if this moves forward, but at first he is fine. (…) The idea is to have him not only for this half of the season, but always to try for more time and dream of an international competition. In which Leo Fernández will already be recovered, and signed permanently by the club, and also Arezo. If we could have Nico De la Cruz, I’d start to say we have players who, down the road, can make things work at the international level —, the president commented.

— He comes from playing in a World Cup, he is 29 years old, these are not easy players to bring in. Flamengo paid a fortune for him, right? I think the fans themselves know that and also know us by now, we are always trying to do these things. Sometimes they work out, like with Leo Fernández and Arezo. And sometimes they don’t, but you always have to try. I’m always in contact with everyone and, every time they don’t have chances at their clubs, I try to talk to the presidents and look for the possibility. We don’t have a negotiation that is anywhere near being closed, or anything like that. It’s the player who is talking every day. We sent the letter of intent 10 days ago, but it is something very difficult to happen. Today there is nothing beyond the intention to bring the player under Uruguayan conditions, not Flamengo’s conditions. And, well, the player wants to come” —, he concluded.

WHAT DOES PEÑAROL WANT?

Peñarol dreams of signing De La Cruz on a one-year loan, free of charge. However, for that to happen, the club would pay his full salary during that period. It is worth noting that Flamengo’s number 18 is under contract until the end of 2028. Signed in 2024, the Uruguayan cost US$16 million (R$77.7 million at the exchange rate at the time), but the total cost exceeded R$102 million with taxes and commissions.

WHAT IS THE AUTHOR’S OPINION?

— It’s time for De La Cruz to move on. He is a great player, but he can’t put together a consistent run. And now, with Flamengo’s midfield having more and more players, he will hardly get minutes. It’s very difficult to recover the amount invested in him, but even just saving on wages would already be interesting —, opined Pedro Paulo Catonho, journalist for Coluna do Fla.

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