Arboleda goes from exile to starter as São Paulo's defence runs thin

Centre-back Arboleda has turned his situation at São Paulo around. After a month away from the club, a trip to Ecuador without permission and a board statement that he was outside the team's plans, the Ecuadorian is now an undisputed starter under coach Dorival Júnior. He has played the last nine matches, equalling the longest run by a centre-back this season, a record previously held by Alan Franco, who is on loan at Tigres in Mexico. Since returning 20 games ago, he has missed only two.

A month out of the squad

Arboleda did not report for the match against Cruzeiro on April 4 and gave the club no explanation, nor did he answer calls from the board. São Paulo sent him a notice asking him to justify his absence or report within 24 hours. With no reply, the club issued a second warning saying it would trigger the unilateral termination clause if he had not returned within ten days.

The club had overlooked earlier lapses, but this time it took a harder line, mainly because he had disobeyed a match call-up. Earlier in 2026, Arboleda had been late twice, once for pre-season and once during Carnival, when he missed a game against Primavera and travelled to Ecuador. He later cited personal problems and missed three more matches. The club said he had been cleared to deal with those issues. Ge reported that he had appeared in a friendly for Barcelona de Guayaquil against Inter Miami, the club of Lionel Messi.

A third delay was not made public. After three days off, he did not rejoin the group on March 24 and reappeared on March 27. Alan Franco was unavailable, and Arboleda was due to start against Inter, but coach Roger Machado chose Rafael Toloi instead because of the late return.

Back in the team

When he returned, Arboleda was fined, was not paid for the month he was absent and was removed from the squad. São Paulo tried to sell him during the World Cup break but did not find a buyer. Because of problems in the defensive unit, the club decided to reinstate him.

A thin defence

The reinstatement came at a difficult time. Sabino and Domingos Duarte are injured, and Newton is suspended after being used out of position. That leaves Dorival Júnior with only three natural centre-backs: Arboleda, Rafael Toloi and Osorio. Young Isac, from the under-20 side and already called up earlier this year, is expected to be on the bench. Arboleda's place in the side will be tested again when São Paulo host Fluminense at the Morumbis on the 19th, at 9:30 p.m.

Arboleda has been with São Paulo for nine years and has made 380 appearances, scoring 25 goals. He is the club's fourth-most-capped foreign player, behind José Poy (525), Darío Pereyra (453) and Pedro Rocha (393).