Author: Joe Soriano

The 5 best midfield transfer targets for Liverpool in summer 2025
26Nov By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

The 5 best midfield transfer targets for Liverpool in summer 2025

Liverpool have become the best team in the Premier League again in 2024/25 under the leadership of new manager Arne Slot, but a lot of the groundwork for this great season was already put in place by Jurgen Klopp and the preceding regime at Anfield. Much of the improvements were done in the middle of the park, with Liverpool bouncing back from a Europa League finish to legitimate Premier League title contention in 2023/24 after the signings of Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, Wataru Endo, and Ryan Granveberch - though Gravenberch wouldn't break out until this season under Slot. Despite a bevy of midfield upgrades, Liverpool are still in the market for another star or two to further boost their personnel in midfield as they look to capture the near impossible under Slot - a tr...
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Where does Nicolas Jackson rank among the Premier League’s best strikers in 2024/25?
26Nov By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Where does Nicolas Jackson rank among the Premier League’s best strikers in 2024/25?

Chelsea are back in the Champions League conversation for the first time in the Todd Boehly era, as new manager Enzo Maresca has guided the Blues to their best start in years, coaxing bounce-back seasons from a couple of key transfer investments. Midfielder Moises Caicedo's rebound as one of the world's best has been the most striking, but Nicolas Jackson's newfound consistency has been just as impactful of a storyline at Stamford Bridge. This weekend, Jackson added a seventh goal to his Premier League tally, as he proved decisive with yet another fine all-around performance for the Blues in a 2-1 win over Maresca's former employers, Leicester City. In the spirit of Jackson's improved displays in the 2024/25 season, let's take a look at where the Chelsea star ranks in comparison t...
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Grading every Newcastle transfer of the summer 2024 window
31Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Grading every Newcastle transfer of the summer 2024 window

Newcastle qualified for the Champions League in the 2022/23 season in their first season under Saudi Arabian ownership, and then they slid back to disappointment in the 2023/24 season, failing to qualify for the Champions League and build on their success. Faced with the need to have a big summer, Newcastle ended up with a poor offseason, signing no new starters and instead focusing heavily on depth players. Not all was bad for Newcastle this summer, but for what was needed to get back to the Champions League level, this window was clearly lacking. So here are the grades for all of Newcastle's summer 2024 signings, with prices coming from Transfermarkt. GK Odysseas Vlachodimos, €23.6M Odysseas Vlachodimos is a very good goalkeeper who is capable of challenging Nick Pope as the new ...
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31Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Grading every summer 2024 transfer made by Leicester City

In an effort to stay up in the Premier League this time around, Leicester City had one of the most active summer transfer windows of any team in the top flight, investing heavily in a few players while signing a handful of more bargain additions - or loans. At the end of the window, Leicester City have a more balanced and well-rounded squad with the upside of having a few contributors who could explode for big 2024/25 seasons that could play a pivotal role in the Foxes avoiding the drop. Here is a grade for every major Leicester City signing of the summer 2024 transfer window. All prices are courtesy of Transfermarkt. DM Oliver Skipp, €23.5M Oliver Skipp is one of the most gifted young midfielders in English football, but the 23-year-old never quite took off at Tottenham, failing t...
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The best possible Chelsea starting lineup with Jadon Sancho
30Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

The best possible Chelsea starting lineup with Jadon Sancho

As was rumored for about a week, Chelsea have secured the signing of Jadon Sancho from Manchester United, acquiring one of England's most talented wingers on loan with an unknown obligation to buy attached. The move brings a proven Champions League commodity to Chelsea, and Sancho is capable of getting starts on either wing, with the left wing actually being the most pressing need in light of Mykhaylo Mudryk's inconsistency. Chelsea are beyond loaded on the flanks with Sancho entering the fray. Here is a look at how the Blues could potentially line up with the talented 24-year-old from Dortmund in the XI. Defense GK Filip Jorgensen - The new signing should be the nailed-on starter in goal ahead of Robert Sanchez, even if Enzo Maresca bizarrely wants to stick with the carryover star...
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How Raheem Sterling and his playing style fit Arsenal
30Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

How Raheem Sterling and his playing style fit Arsenal

After weeks of speculation, Raheem Sterling has indeed made a move away from Chelsea. But instead of joining Manchester United in a swap deal for Jadon Sancho, the winger is heading to rivals Arsenal on loan, joining Kai Havertz as the latest talented attacker to make the London switch. So far things have worked out for Havertz, who turned his career around in the second half of the season for Arsenal, and there is reason to believe that Sterling can benefit significantly from a switch to the best club in London right now. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was previously tight-lipped about the prospect of reuniting with Sterling, but we all should have known better than the sneakiest coach in the game had a trick up his sleeve. See, Sterling was a legitimate 20-goal winger at Mancheste...
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A possible West Ham starting lineup with Carlos Soler
30Aug By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

A possible West Ham starting lineup with Carlos Soler

West Ham are closing in on the signing of attacking midfielder Carlos Soler, who spent the last two seasons with PSG after previously scoring 11 goals in back-to-back seasons with Valencia in LaLiga. New West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui saw Soler's quality up close in Spanish football, and it seems like he is sold on the former Spanish national team player as a piece of the puzzle in London. Soler could be replacing 2023 signing James Ward-Prowse as a main attacking midfielder - of which Lopetegui has been deploying two recently for the Hammers. With new, talented faces in defense, midfield, and attack - including those with LaLiga ties like ex-Real Betis midfielder Guido Rodriguez - there is a great deal of optimism surrounding West Ham in 2024/25. Assuming all goes well and Sole...
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Ranking the 10 best center midfielders of the 2010s
10Jul By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Ranking the 10 best center midfielders of the 2010s

Throughout the 2010s, Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Lionel Messi was the most heated debate on the lips of world football fans, but as time has passed and the discussions have become more retrospective, much of the discussion has moved towards the midfield. It isn't just Real Madrid and Barcelona fans getting into it about their elite midfields that dominated the 2010s, as Premier League supporters, Serie A fans, and, of course, the Bayern Munich faithful are wondering where their midfield stars stack up. When looking back at the best center midfielders of the 2010s, it is no surprise to see that the teams that dominated the Champions League that decade - Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich - also dominate this list. It's fair to say that this observation is yet another endorsement ...
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Ranking the 10 best Bayern Munich transfers since 2010
9Jul By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Ranking the 10 best Bayern Munich transfers since 2010

Bayern Munich have turned winning into a tradition, to the point where their success is taken for granted more than at any other club in world football. One of the best-run organizations in professional sports, Bayern's excellence has recently been called into question after a host of rash managerial decisions, poor signings, and dysfunctional executives. But Bayern's track record of success in the 2010s decade speaks for itself, and looking at their list of transfers over the last 15 years provides a clear example of why they achieved consistent Champions League success and perennial Bundesliga dominance. Here are the 10 best transfers in Bayern Munich's recent history since 2010, ranked in order. 10. Leon Goretzka, CM Leon Goretzka helped lead Schalke to an unlikely second-pla...
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Ranking the 10 best strikers in Serie A in 2024
8Jul By Joe SorianoNo Comments
Analysis

Ranking the 10 best strikers in Serie A in 2024

Here are the 10 best strikers in Serie A right now in 2024 based on a combination of recent success and overall pedigree. 10. Andrea Pinamonti, Sassuolo Andrea Pinamonti has been one of the most perennially disappointing strikers in Italian football because on the basis of talent alone, he should be in the top five of the best strikers in Serie A. Instead, Pinamonti does find himself in the top 10, as he has turned out to be a decent striker in his own right, capable of utter brilliance when inspiration strikers and his best quality comes to the fore. 9. Duvan Zapata, Torino After a poor final season in Bergamo, the iconic Duvan Zapata got a new lease on life in Torino and proceeded to dispatch 12 goals with 4 assists to rebound somewhat and regain his reputation as one of the bette...
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