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.

Ranking the 5 best Manchester United players for the 2025/26 season
16Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Ranking the 5 best Manchester United players for the 2025/26 season

As Manchester United prepare for the start of the 2025/26 season and their opener against Premier League title contenders Arsenal, there's a lot of optimism in the air regarding their future. That's a sudden change from where they were at a few months ago, but Manchester United actually went out and signed proven attackers who can bring goals and bags of quality, rather than overspending on gambles without established goal-scoring track records, namely Serie A youngsters Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund (the latter of whom is likely headed back to Italy this summer. These players - Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha, and Bryan Mbeumo - are immediately among Manchester United's best players, but where exactly do they rank on the list? Are they immediately in the top three, are they all...
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Ranking the 10 best left-footed players in the Premier League for 2025/26 season
14Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Ranking the 10 best left-footed players in the Premier League for 2025/26 season

There's just something extra special about a left-footed footballer who can dazzle on the ball, and whether it's Lionel Messi or Diego Maradona, some of the world's most legendary and captivating players of all time have been left-footed wizards. In 2025/26, the Premier League boasts an enviable collection of left-footed stars, both in terms of well-established legends of the league, as well as young superstars with Ballon d'Or potential. There are even defenders who are a class above the rest on the ball with their left feet. So in honor of the southpaws, let's rank the top 10 left-footed players in the Premier League heading into the 2025/26 season. 10. Tottenham CB Micky van de Ven We begin with a center back because defenders are important, too. And Europa League-winning Totten...
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Ranking the 10 best defensive transfers of the summer 2025 window
13Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Transfer News

Ranking the 10 best defensive transfers of the summer 2025 window

Attacking players make all the headlines in world football, and the transfer market is no exception. The most expensive and desirable players - the players seen as being the ones who can change the destiny of a club- are the forwards, especially the goal-scorers. But history has proven that the right defensive-minded transfers can be just as influential to a team building a dynasty, whether that's an expensive acquisition like Virgil van Dijk's move from Southampton to Liverpool or a more under-the-radar buy like Inigo Martinez helping Barcelona return to prominence in European football last season. With the summer 2025 transfer window reaching its final weeks, let's rank the top 10 defensive transfer signings of the mercato thus far. It's no surprise to see the Premier League domina...
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The 10 best young Bundesliga players to watch in the 2025/26 season
13Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

The 10 best young Bundesliga players to watch in the 2025/26 season

Perhaps no league in world football has a bigger reputation for building top young talents than the Bundesliga, and that's because clubs like Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Monchengladbach, Eintracht Frankfurt, RB Leipzig, and, of course, Borussia Dortmund have made it a regular habit of signing and developing young players into superstars. But even the most historic and successful club in the German top flight, Bayern Munich, has produced more than its fair share of homegrown elite players, including five-time Champions League winning center midfielder Toni Kroos. The Bundesliga is almost like a factory for talent to the other big leagues in Europe, especially the Premier League, and Liverpool alone spent well over 200 million euros this summer on two of the biggest German league talent...
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Every new Serie A manager hire for 2025/26 ranked from worst to best
11Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Rankings

Every new Serie A manager hire for 2025/26 ranked from worst to best

No league experienced more managerial turnover last season than Serie A. In total, there are going to be 13 new coaches next season if you include the permanent appointment of Igor Tudor to Juventus, as he joined towards the end of the campaign as an interim manager to replace Thiago Motta. In Serie A, the same managers tend to get recycled to new jobs, as there are very little outside hires into Italian football, making it similar to the Bundesliga and dissimilar to most other European leagues. That means a lot of the new hires are retreads doomed to fail. But lately, Serie A clubs have been more open to taking chances on new coaches, especially former players, and there are some of those coming into Calcio as well. With the 2025/26 Serie A season just weeks way, let's rank all t...
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One player for every Serie A contender to sign before summer 2025 transfer window ends
10Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Transfer News

One player for every Serie A contender to sign before summer 2025 transfer window ends

After Inter Milan won the 2023/24 Serie A season by nearly 20 points in the table, the 2024/25 campaign was far more entertaining, coming down to the wire with the Nerazzurri failing to defend their Scudetto, making it yet another season with a new winner ever since Inter first broke up Juve's hegemony of the title in 2021. It was Napoli, going from tenth to first, who conquered Italian football, winning their second title in three seasons after going decades without a triumph. The Scott McTominay-fueled underdogs offered another masterclass in team football, and they've already added another big name this summer to join Romelu Lukaku in fellow Belgian icon Kevin De Bruyne. Napoli aren't the only ones looking to make moves this summer, and there are still plenty of other big dominos ...
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The top 10 Premier League transfers under £25M in the 2025 summer window
10Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Transfer News

The top 10 Premier League transfers under £25M in the 2025 summer window

Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, and all the other top clubs in the Premier League have made major headlines this summer transfer window by splashing serious cash on big names like Florian Wirtz, Bryan Mbeumo, Viktor Gyokeres, and Joao Pedro this summer transfer window. But there were so many other quality signings made in this window so far that could go a long way in shaping relegation battles, the fights for the Conference League, and perhaps even the battles in the top five, including the Premier League title race. So in the spirit of the moves that didn't get quite the same press, let's break down the best 10 transfers of the 2025 summer window that cost teams under 25 million pounds. And because free transfers are too obvious, let's only look at the moves that ca...
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Every Champions League contender’s best Ballon d’Or candidate for 2025/26
9Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Every Champions League contender’s best Ballon d’Or candidate for 2025/26

PSG took everyone by surprise and conquered the 2024/25 Champions League, and although their triumph of world football's premier club competition was marked by a transition to a more team-oriented setup after the departure of Kylian Mbappe, the Parisians still had one of the Ballon d'Or favorites from the campaign in the resurrected form of a more mature Ousmane Dembele. Every high-achieving club needs at least one superstar to lead the way, and in 2025/26, there's a wide open slate of contenders of the Champions League crown, whether it's the defending champions PSG or the competition's record-holding champions Real Madrid. So in that spirit, let's take a preview of what could unfold in the 2025/26 and name every Champions League title contender's best shot at capturing the Ballon d...
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Ranking the 5 Best Striker Transfers of the 2025 Premier League Summer Window So Far
9Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Transfer News

Ranking the 5 Best Striker Transfers of the 2025 Premier League Summer Window So Far

Pretty much every top club in the Premier League was after a new No. 9 this summer, as there's been a clear gap in the quality at the striker position in the English top flight - and in world football as a whole - when comparing the names of today to the strikers gracing the pitch 10-20 years ago. So Premier League sides were busy trying to snag new strikers in the summer 2025 transfer window, and there were plenty of splashes to be made around the top (and a certain team in the bottom) half of the table. Here are the five best striker transfers of the summer 2025 window thus far. 5. Liam Delap to Chelsea Ipswich Town were a predictable disaster last season and totally overmatched for the Premier League, but they did have a couple of young gems, including Liam Delap at striker. ...
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5 Declining Premier League Stars Who Could Revive Careers With a Summer 2025 Transfer
9Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Transfer News

5 Declining Premier League Stars Who Could Revive Careers With a Summer 2025 Transfer

Father Time takes no prisoners, but, sometimes, there are footballers who have the appearance of declining in quality but have the capability of returning to a high level of football in a different setting. The Premier League is particularly unforgiving to veteran players, especially in comparison to some of the other top five leagues in European football, and in light of Kevin De Bruyne's move to Serie A champions Napoli, let's take a look at a handful of other stars in the English top flight who could rebound with a change in scenery. Manchester City LW Jack Grealish The most obvious name on the list is Jack Grealish, and while he's been linked to a desperate Tottenham Hotspur as his only concrete suitor thus far in the summer transfer window, a move outside the Premier League may b...
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