Author: Joe Soriano

Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling.

Nicolas Jackson is destroying his own transfer value
25Feb By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Transfer News

Nicolas Jackson is destroying his own transfer value

Chelsea loaned striker Nicolas Jackson to Bayern Munich with the intention of eventually making a permanent sale, but they are going to find it difficult to get much out of the No. 9 as he's been cutting a frustrated figure on the Bayern bench. According to a report from Sport Bild in Germany, via iMiaSanMia, out of all the big name backups in Bavaria, it is Jackson who is the most disgruntled. He is so visibly upset by his lack of playing time that it is reportedly apparent to others at Bayern, whereas the likes of Tom Bischof and Kim Min-jae are accepting limited roles. Therefore, Bild state that Jackson will be leaving Bayern back for Chelsea this summer at the end of his loan, confirming that the Bavarians have no intention of paying a whopping 65 million euros to make his transf...
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Manchester United’s fastest players in 2026: Bryan Mbeumo, Benjamin Sesko take the cake
24Feb By Joe SorianoNo Comments
News

Manchester United’s fastest players in 2026: Bryan Mbeumo, Benjamin Sesko take the cake

Manchester United look like a much more dangerous team in the 2025/26 Premier League season under Michael Carrick and suddenly look like good bets to make it back to the Champions League, and it is a speedy, dynamic attack that is the heart of it. Unsurprisingly, last season's 20-goal hero at Brentford, Bryan Mbeumo, has been the star of the show and the most important forward for Man United, but in the last few weeks, high-priced young striker Benjamin Sesko has looked like a star, too, and the best striker Man U have had in ages. Both are wicked fast, too, usurping young Amad Diallo as the fastest players on Manchester United. But who is No. 1 and who else makes the list? Here are the top four fastest players based on peak recorded times in kilometers per hour during the 2025/26 Pr...
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Real Madrid already eyeing two top GKs as Thibaut Courtois successors
24Feb By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Transfer News

Real Madrid already eyeing two top GKs as Thibaut Courtois successors

Real Madrid have the best goalkeeper on the planet in Thibaut Courtois, who is a two-time Champions League winner and a key leader for Madrid, but as he is getting older, the club is preparing to potentially sign a younger goalkeeper to replace him, Bart Verbruggen and Gregor Kobel are on their shortlist. Former Diario AS and Relevo reporter Jorge C. Picon has written a detailed report on X.com about how worried Real Madrid are about losing Courtois, who has been their great equalizer over the years, clearly coming good after Florentino Perez controversially replaced Keylor Navas with the big Belgian, who struggled early in his tenure. Although Real Madrid have one of the world's best backups in Andriy Lunin, who is fully capable of starting, Picon reports that there are still those ...
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Manchester United finally give Bruno Fernandes what he was always missing
24Feb By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Manchester United finally give Bruno Fernandes what he was always missing

Ever since Bruno Fernandes joined Manchester United from Sporting CP, he's been a star and a vital player to the team, but he's never had a top striker to work with...until now. Watching Benjamin Sesko score the winning goal against Everton on Monday Night Football in the Premier League, showing off his finishing chops, silky smooth skills, and even high-end speed and athleticism during the game, you just knew Man United had hit the jackpot with their summer transfer signing. Many thought that Man United would spend big on Viktor Gyokeres to reunite another Sporting CP stud with Ruben Amorim, but, instead, they went with Sesko, who has taken some time to get going. But he was always going to be a raw, young striker based on potential, as he was not even the regular starting strike...
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Real Madrid get even worse Kylian Mbappe injury news
24Feb By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Injury News

Real Madrid get even worse Kylian Mbappe injury news

Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe is in doubt for the big game against Benfica in the Champions League, and now he is also in doubt for the following rivalry game in La Liga next Monday against Getafe, according to a report from Ruben Martin and Fernando Sanchez Tavero of Diario AS. Mbappe is dealing with left knee discomfort, and he recently felt a worse twinge in training on Tuesday before the second leg of a tense Champions League tie against Benfica, made all the more heated by the (very likely) racial abuse by Gianluca Prestianni directed towards Madrid superstar Vinicius Junior. Losing Mbappe against Benfica would be a huge blow, as Real Madrid are only up 1-0 in the tie, while Mbappe has been the team's best player this season and is viewed as a Ballon d'Or frontrunner along...
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Inter Milan publicly address Diego Simeone rumors
24Feb By Joe SorianoNo Comments
News

Inter Milan publicly address Diego Simeone rumors

Inter Milan have been linked with a move for Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone, but president Giuseppe Marotta has publicly rubbished the rumors, speaking to the media prior to the Champions League games pitting Atleti against Club Brugge and Inter against ultimate underdogs Bodo Glimt. Simeone survived his underdog scare against Brugge, dominating the Belgian side in the second leg to skate into the Round of 16 of the Champions League, and we will have to see what happens to Inter after their 3-1 loss to Bodo in the first leg. Atleti are not in the La Liga title race, though. Meanwhile, in his first season at the club as a manager, Nerazzurri manager Christian Chivu, who was a top midfielder for the Serie A giants in the preceding decade, has Inter clear frontrunners in the leag...
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Victor Osimhen teases potential Juventus transfer
24Feb By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Transfer News

Victor Osimhen teases potential Juventus transfer

Victor Osimhen was one of the best strikers in Serie A and won Capocannoniere in 2022/23 when the Partenopei won the Scudetto, and while he is out of the spotlight in Turkey with Galatasaray, he still had time to make mincemeat out of Juventus in the Champions League. Juve could not sign Osimhen from Napoli since they were not offering competitive enough transfer bids to their rivals down south, nor did Napoli even entertain selling the Nigerian superstar to an elite top five club, instead sending him to Turkey. Although Osimhen did not score in a first leg 5-2 blowout of Juventus in the Champions League play-in round's first leg, his all-around work rate and play destroyed the Bianconeri, embarrassing Lloyd Kelly in particular. As Alessandro Del Piero and other Juventus legends a...
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Manchester United add one of the Premier League’s best players to their transfer wishlist
24Feb By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Transfer News

Manchester United add one of the Premier League’s best players to their transfer wishlist

Manchester United have made huge strides under Michael Carrick this summer, but they aren't done stockpiling talent yet, as Morgan Gibbs-White is the latest big name to be linked to the Red Devils in midfield. According to a report from Chris Wheeler and Nathan Salt of the Daily Mail, Manchester United are the latest club to show an interest in Nottingham Forest attacking midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White, who was agonizingly close to joining Tottenham Hotspur this past summer transfer window before Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis was able to get the deal struck down. Gibbs-White, instead, re-signed with Forest, but while Forest have added two more breakout midfielders in Elliot Anderson and Ibrahim Sangare who are also generating links to Manchester United, Forest are still not having ...
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Kylian Mbappe isn’t the only new Real Madrid injury concern vs. Benfica
24Feb By Joe SorianoNo Comments
News

Kylian Mbappe isn’t the only new Real Madrid injury concern vs. Benfica

Per top French news outlet L'Equipe, French superstar Kylian Mbappe is a doubt for Real Madrid vs. Benfica in the second leg of the Champions League playoffs, and now Spanish newspaper MARCA is reporting that center midfielder Federico Valverde also isn't 100 percent for the clash. The stakes couldn't be higher for Real Madrid on Wednesday night in the Champions League. They barely survived Benfica in the first leg, with Vinicius Junior's moment of individual brilliance, overshadowed by Gianluca Prestianni's infamous face-covered (almost certainly racist) remarks to the Brazilian superstar, being the lone difference in avenging Madrid's putrid league phase loss to Jose Mourinho. Now, Real Madrid are behind the eight ball, because if Mbappe is out or not at his best, they will be miss...
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Ranking Chelsea’s 5 best players of the 2025/26 Premier League season so far
24Feb By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Ranking Chelsea’s 5 best players of the 2025/26 Premier League season so far

Chelsea are still in the hunt for Champions League places and having a positive season overall, even if they haven't quite shown the same growth in 2025/26 and even had to fire Enzo Maresca after his promising start to the campaign. But if new manager Liam Rosenior can continue to get the best out of Premier League Player of the Season caliber playmaker Cole Palmer, the Blues should be able to soak up more Champions League football and maybe even tease title contention at the end of the campaign. Here is a ranking of the five best Chelsea players of the Premier League season so far, using analytics from WhoScored, SofaScore, and FBRef.com. 5. CB Wesley Fofana Estevao Willian and even fellow center back Trevoh Chalobah were tough snubs, but Estevao is still a way's away from being a...
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