Why Billal Brahimi still can't find his place at Santos | OneFootball

Even with the turn of the year, Billal Brahimi still has no place at Santos. The forward was left out of coach Juan Pablo Vojvoda's squad in the 2-1 victory over Novorizontino this Saturday, in the first round of the Paulista Championship.

The coach made it clear that he still counts on the Algerian, but stated that his competitors trained better during the week.

“I considered, in this week of training, that Caballero and Lautaro are above Brahimi. I may be right or wrong. I don't want to say that I won't count on him. This week the two were better than Brahimi. Miguel also had a good week of work. There was also Escobar... Seven foreign spots were already filled. It will happen that some games will be missed due to the limit, like Duarte and Brahimi,” he said.

The Paulista Football Federation allows only seven foreigners among the squad. Against Novorizontino, Santos had Escobar, Adonis Frías, Rollheiser, Caballero, Lautaro, Rincón, and Miguelito.

In the Brazilian Championship, the limit is higher. The CBF allows up to nine foreign players among the squad.

Billal Brahimi at Santos

The Algerian debuted on September 28, 2025, just four days after being announced. He came on in the second half of the 2-2 draw with Red Bull Bragantino, away from home, in the 25th round of the Brazilian Championship. Thus, the forward has only 20 minutes on the field wearing the black and white jersey.

Since his debut, Brahimi has not left the bench in seven Brasileirão matches. The forward's situation worsened when he was no longer included in Santos' match squads in the competition. In the last seven matches of Peixe, he was even left out of coach Vojvoda's substitutes.

The Algerian was a gamble by the management for this second half of 2025. He joined Peixe at no cost after terminating with Nice, France. The contract runs until the end of 2026.

See also: All news from Gazeta Esportiva Gazeta Esportiva's YouTube Channel Follow Gazeta Esportiva on Instagram

Next Santos match

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