Colo-Colo has opened negotiations for Vozinha after its talks for Santiago Mele fell apart, shifting quickly to a goalkeeper whose World Cup display made him far more visible than he was before. The move is now on the table, and it is there because the club decided it needed another route.
The push matters today because Colo-Colo is still trying to reinforce its goalkeeping options for the second half of the season, and Vozinha has become one of the names under active consideration. He is 40 years old and was playing for Group Desportivo de Chaves in the second division of Portugal when his name climbed into the market conversation, but the change in attention began long before this negotiation.
César Luis Merlo said Vozinha had already been offered several days earlier, then Colo-Colo moved once the Santiago Mele path collapsed. Merlo also said the decision to advance came from Aníbal Mosa, while Fernando Ortiz did not ask for Vozinha but gave the go-ahead to keep moving. That detail matters because it shows the club’s process is not being driven purely by the coach’s first choice, but by a broader push from the top.
Vozinha’s rise in visibility came during the World Cup, where he made seven saves against Spain and helped produce a 0-0 draw. He also stood out against Argentina in the round of 16, a match that went to extra time and ended 3-2. After that tournament, his Instagram following jumped from a little more than 56,000 to more than 29 million, a leap that explains why his name now travels well beyond the usual transfer circuit.
That sudden spotlight has already brought interest from elsewhere. Record reported that a MLS team had shown strong interest, and Fabrizio Romano also linked him with Avaí and Atlético Goianiense. Vozinha himself has described the reaction as overwhelming, saying he was very grateful and very happy about what happened in his life, but also that the attention was something he never expected and found difficult to handle.
He was born as Josimar José Évora Dias and did not begin his professional career until around 25, after passing through clubs in Angola, Eslovaquia, Chipre, Portugal and Moldav. That path makes the current market moment unusual but not accidental: Colo-Colo is chasing experience and hierarchy in goal, and Vozinha fits that need because his profile now combines veteran status with an international surge in visibility.
What remains unresolved is whether Colo-Colo turns the opening talks into a finished signing, and under what terms. For now, Vozinha is no longer just a name lifted by a World Cup run. He is the goalkeeper Colo-Colo turned to after its first plan collapsed, and the next step will decide whether that turn becomes a deal.
