Author: Joe Soriano

Manchester United Transfers: The future of the LB position is getting a lot more interesting
Premier League

Manchester United Transfers: The future of the LB position is getting a lot more interesting

Manchester United have such a puzzle at the left back position, which has been complicated further by a constant revolving door of injuries to Tyrell Malacia and Luke Shaw, who have been out for months. In their steads, Manchester United have actually been better at left back by starting inverted right backs Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui, who have proven to be two of the best fullbacks in the world. Dalot was the established option at right back but shifted to the left after Shaw's injury and the signing of Mazraoui, shining on the left side. Then, it was Mazraoui's turn to do the same in a recent Premier League encounter against Chelsea. In the long term, Manchester United will probably want to sign a more reliable true left back, someone who is world-class and can get forwar...
Real Madrid’s top center back transfer target is more intriguing than Aymeric Laporte
LaLiga

Real Madrid’s top center back transfer target is more intriguing than Aymeric Laporte

Real Madrid are starting to realize that their complacency in addressing the defense on the transfer market has come back to bite them badly, as they are fresh off surrendering a combined seven goals to Barcelona and AC Milan in their two biggest matchups of the season thus far. It's been a poor start to the campaign for Carlo Ancelotti and his squad, as they are clearly second best to Barcelona in La Liga and have already lost two Champions League matches against beatable opponents. Fixing the defense rests partially on Ancelotti to come up with better tactical solutions than "Eder Militao go brrrrr", but it also lies in the responsibility the Real Madrid board has to finally supply their legendary manager with the defensive reinforcements on the transfer market that he's been askin...
Transfer Rumors: An elite club wants to poach Jhon Duran from Aston Villa
Premier League

Transfer Rumors: An elite club wants to poach Jhon Duran from Aston Villa

Aston Villa backup striker Jhon Duran would be a qualified starter on the majority of Premier League sides, but with 2023/24 Premier League Player of the Season candidate Ollie Watkins still firing on all cylinders, the Colombian has to settle for being one of the world's finest backups. Duran was mired in a transfer saga this past summer, but Aston Villa ultimately stuck to their guns and didn't sell him to Premier League counterparts West Ham, Chelsea, or anyone else for that matter. This season, Duran is off to a torrid start as arguably the biggest breakout striker in world football, scoring 4 league goals in 263 minutes for a whopping 1.37 goals per 90 minutes. Aston Villa are very much in the thick of the Champions League race despite a poor recent run of results, including ...
Even Real Madrid players aren’t happy with Carlo Ancelotti snubbing two teammates
LaLiga

Even Real Madrid players aren’t happy with Carlo Ancelotti snubbing two teammates

Real Madrid are in their most painful period in a few years, as their combined 7-1 defeats to Barcelona and AC Milan back-to-back have let a sobering reality sink in: the club is worse after signing Kylian Mbappe. The defending champions of Spain and Europe as a whole, Real Madrid have looked anything but invincible, even as there was optimism among fans that they would be untouchable in 2024/25 after signing the most talented footballer in the world. But Mbappe has struggled to deliver on his quality, while the Real Madrid structure has been in shambles, left chasing the dirt kicked up by opposition attackers. And there is a worry that Carlo Ancelotti's facade has come crumbling down after the departure of his coach on the field, Toni Kroos. Real Madrid have to get serious about ...
Real Madrid could be forced into a surprising signing in summer 2025
LaLiga

Real Madrid could be forced into a surprising signing in summer 2025

Real Madrid have grabbed the attention of the entire footballing world over the past two weeks, but whereas, before the season, you may have thought it would have been for record-breaking performances from an attack that is, on paper, absolutely loaded, it's been the complete opposite. Los Blancos are unraveling, following up a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Barcelona with an arguably even more humiliating defeat, 3-1 to AC Milan in the Champions League. Getting smacked in El Clasico is bad enough, but 1) Real had been there before and bounced back and 2) at least Real were creating chances in the first half against Barca. Real Madrid spend the whole week gameplanning and strategizing about fixing a broken defense, only to get ripped to shreds by Milan with more mind-bogglingly simp...
Liverpool’s pursuit of Aurelien Tchouameni just got a lot more interesting
LaLiga, Premier League

Liverpool’s pursuit of Aurelien Tchouameni just got a lot more interesting

Liverpool have been looking for a tempo-setter in the midfield for years, and, at points, they had one of the two best in the world at this job after acquiring Thiago Alcantara for free in 2020. Thiago was fresh off winning the treble for Bayern Munich and was as good as any footballer in the world at the time, even if his efforts were very much unsung by virtue of the nature of his position. When healthy, Thiago was every bit the maestro conductor that Jurgen Klopp envisioned, but, unfortunately, those healthy moments were few and far between. Thiago retired from the game at the end of the season. By then, though, Liverpool had overhauled their midfield and returned to their status as Premier League title contenders after landing Wataru Endo, Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allist...
Barcelona begin negotiating ambitious swap deal for Viktor Gyokeres
LaLiga

Barcelona begin negotiating ambitious swap deal for Viktor Gyokeres

Barcelona have been the most dominant force in world football to start the 2024/25 season, placing an exclamation point on their turnaround under Hansi Flick with a 4-1 win over Bayern Munich in an act of Champions League revenge, a 4-0 drubbing of hated rivals Real Madrid, and then a 3-1 derby victory over Espanyol to cap it all off. The Blaugrana have been steady defensively and hungry and relentlessly offensively, making full use of a high press and somehow an even higher line, with Flick taking opposing managers to school on a weekly basis. La Blaugrana's front three is the envy of everyone else in European football, with Robert Lewandowski back to scoring goals at a record pace, Raphinha playing the best football of his life in a free role off the left, and Lamine Yamal entrench...
Real Madrid have changed their biggest transfer priority
LaLiga

Real Madrid have changed their biggest transfer priority

Ever since David Alaba became the second Real Madrid center back to suffer a torn ACL, Madridistas were clamoring for the club to sign another central defender last winter, with Carlo Ancelotti even at the forefront of the effort to sign a new defender. Since Real Madrid went on to win the Champions League and La Liga in 2023/24 without another center back, president Florentino Perez may have felt vindicated by his latest decision to stand pat in the transfer market when everyone else told him to go for more. But with Alaba still injured and now top prospect Joan Martinez joining him, Real Madrid remain thin at center back, and as the defense collapses after giving up a combined seven goals against Barcelona and AC Milan, the cries for another defender are becoming loader. Real Ma...
Guess who could come crawling back to Aston Villa
Premier League

Guess who could come crawling back to Aston Villa

Aston Villa are experiencing a little bit of a slide, as the top-four contenders have not won a game since their Oct. 22 victory over Bologna in the Champions League. The Lions suffered a shock defeat to Club Bruges in their latest Champions League encounter, on the heels of a 4-1 drubbing to fellow top-four contenders Tottenham in the Premier League this weekend. Before that, Aston Villa lost to a struggling Crystal Palace 2-1, and they could not get the full three points against Bournemouth either, drawing the plucky underdogs 1-1. Unai Emery has done a marvelous job with Villa to this point, and they look even stronger this season with Morgan Rogers and Jhon Duran breaking out as legitimate top attackers while Youri Tielemans enjoys a career year thus far. Tielemans and fell...
Real Madrid can sign a top left back at a bargain fee, but they won’t for a simple reason
LaLiga

Real Madrid can sign a top left back at a bargain fee, but they won’t for a simple reason

Real Madrid are in desperate need of a top left back, and they've been searching for a star player at the position ever since Marcelo starting obviously declining during the 2018/19 season. Replacing a legend like Marcelo, one of the best left backs in history, is no easy feat, and the Merengues clearly don't have the solution between either Ferland Mendy or Fran Garcia. Mendy has been favored by Carlo Ancelotti despite showing obvious technical and tactical failures over the past few seasons, while Garcia has never really settled in Madrid since re-joining the club after emerging as a top La Liga back for Rayo Vallecano. And before Fran, Real Madrid had a very intriguing and gifted left back in Miguel Gutierrez, but Carlo decided to send him off to Girona after stuffing him on th...