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GOAL US unpacks the main weekend storylines from the Premier League, La Liga and other top competitions in The Euro XI

The Premier League finally decided to go mad this week. We've been waiting for it, in all honesty. This thing has been too calm, too predictable early in the season. Liverpool winning everything? BORING. Arsenal failing to ground out wins? Man United are bad? Business as usual. 

The good news is that some of that has changed. What would have been an eight-point gap between first and second is now just two, after a bit of weekend chaos. Chelsea seem intent on shooting themselves in the foot. And Man United found another way to be bad.

Elsewhere across the continent, Christian Pulisic has been really rather good this year, and continued that streak in a big win for Milan. Real Madrid showed that it might be quite difficult to be good at football. And then, to round it all off, Lamine Yamal did something ridiculous with a ball at his feet. We are so back.

GOAL US presents The Euro XI, with 11 key observations from the weekend.

• Getty Images Sport
  

  1Liverpool slip up …

  The first thing that needs to be established is that Crystal Palace are a really good football team. They haven't lost in their last 18, and won the FA Cup last year. Selhurst Park is a tough place to go, and the Eagles are flying high.

  But Liverpool are reigning champions, and if they want to win again, they have to get it done in the tough ones. Well, that didn't go to plan. Palace won 2-1 on a last-minute Eddie Nketiah volley. In truth, it really should have been five or six.

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• Getty Images Sport
  

  2… and Arsenal take advantage

  The problem with Arsenal last year was that they couldn't capitalize on others getting it wrong. Call it mentality, quality, or even bad luck – the Gunners just didn't make up gaps. Well, it's a new season with a revamped squad.

  And they appear to mean business. They ground out a gutsy 2-1 win over Newcastle, and were good value for it, too. Just like that, we have a title race on our hands. 

• Getty
  

  3Man Utd's crisis continues

  Fun stat for you: Ruben Amorim has now nearly lost as twice as many games as he has won as Man United manager. You read that right. This club is in shambles at the moment. That's not news, of course.

  United have been varying degrees of bad for nearly a decade now. And the misery piled on this weekend. The hope was that a win over Chelsea might galvanize something. Instead, United were comprehensively beaten by Brentford. Bruno Fernandes missed a penalty, too. In a word: yikes. 

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  4Chelsea, and the art of going down to 10 men

  Is this Chelsea's vibe now? Do they like the challenge of playing with 10 men? It certainly seems so. For the second week running, they had someone sent off – and deservedly so. And for the second week running, it was enough to see them throw a game the really should have won.

  This time it was Trevoh Chalobah, who dragged an opponent down as he ran through on goal. Stonewall red. Chelsea have, like, one centerback for * Liverpool next week. Nice. 

In two of India’s chases against England, they promoted Axar Patel, and that left KL Rahul with little to do

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Feb-2025

Gautam Gambhir: “We look at who can deliver more at that number. And Axar [Patel] has done fabulously well”•AFP/Getty Images

India beat England 3-0 quite comprehensively, but two irregularities in the batting department raised a few eyebrows, and both might have something to do with coach Gautam Gambhir’s preference for right-left batting combinations. In two of the chases, Axar Patel was promoted, which left KL Rahul with little to do. It attracted criticism from commentators, but it was in no way an assessment of Rahul’s batting abilities.”That’s the way cricket is meant to be played,” Gambhir said of Axar’s promotion. “I know a lot of people talk about it, but that’s the way we got to play the game, and that’s the way cricket should be played. It’s not about the batting order, it’s about who can create what impact. And it’s about just if you have the option of putting a quality left-hand batter in the middle; why won’t you do that?”Why would you want to have top five as right-handers? We don’t look at averages and stats and all that stuff. We look at who can deliver more at that number. And Axar has done fabulously well. Both the games [in which] he got the opportunity, he delivered for us. I know there will always be talk – there will always be people talking about it – but I think that’s the way we want to go in future as well.”Related

Stats – Gill's love for Ahmedabad, and Kohli's Rashid problem

Gill century, and Kohli, Shreyas fifties power 3-0 rout of England

That Gambhir likes right-left combinations is no secret. When he came back to Kolkata Knight Riders as a mentor, their right-left partnerships went up from 58% in 2022 and 2023, to 74% in 2024. Having said that, it doesn’t seem to be an unhealthy obsession. For example, it doesn’t penalise Rahul, who has done his job in the middle order well, just for being a right-hand batter.”At the moment, KL is a No.1 wicketkeeper for us, and he’s delivered for us,” Gambhir said when asked about Rishabh Pant’s chances. “And see, when you’ve got two wicketkeepers in this squad, you can’t play both the wicketkeepers with the kind of quality we’ve got. Hopefully, whenever he gets that opportunity, he should be ready for it. That’s all I can say at the moment. Right now, KL is the one who’s going to start.”Gambhir: Wanted to see what Jaiswal can bring to the tableThen again, India did flirt with the idea of introducing Yashasvi Jaiswal, a left-hand batter, to the already packed line-up. After the first ODI, Shreyas Iyer revealed it was him who was going to sit out to accommodate Jaiswal, but an injury to Virat Kohli afforded him the opportunity to play a match-winning innings, which halted the Jaiswal introduction for the Champions Trophy at least. When asked if Iyer was going to miss the whole series had Kohli not got injured, Gambhir answered in the negative.”He wasn’t supposed to be benched throughout the series,” Gambhir said. “We wanted to give Yashasvi a go in the first game and see what he can bring to the table because he was in really good form in Australia. So we wanted to see what kind of an innings can he play. I know you can’t judge someone by one innings, but we always knew that Shreyas is going to be an important player for us. What he’s done at No. 4, be it the World Cup or forget about even the World Cup, he’s just an important player.”So sometimes when you’ve only got three games, you want to try and rotate your squad as well. See, like for today, we could have easily played Shami but we wanted to give Arsh a go. We could have played Jadeja as well, but we gave Washi a go as well. So when you’ve got Champions Trophy around the corner, you want to try and maximise these three games and try and give everyone an opportunity. Shreyas was always in the scheme of things, and good that he played all the three games.”

Cristiano Ronaldo is unlikely to play in Europe again, says ex-Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen, with the Portuguese committed to a new two-year contract at Al-Nassr. He is already 40 years of age, with the “spectacular” money on offer in the Middle East expected to ensure that CR7 sees out his record-shattering playing career in the Saudi Pro League.

• Trendsetter: Ronaldo first superstar to head for Saudi

  Ronaldo linked up with Al-Nassr in 2023 having seen his contract terminated by Premier League giants at Old Trafford. He started a new trend when heading to a division that was lacking in household names.

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  Ronaldo contract: Two-year extension signed

  There are now many on show in Saudi Arabia, with Ronaldo sticking around after agreeing an extension to lucrative terms that will take him beyond his 42nd birthday. Goals continue to flow for the former United, Real Madrid and Juventus superstar.

• Return to Sporting? CR7 generated speculation

  It is expected that Ronaldo, despite generating talk of returning to his roots at Sporting, will hang up his boots as an Al-Nassr player. No club in Europe would want to fund the terms required to bring an ageing icon onto their books.

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  Meulensteen predicts future for Ronaldo

  Meulensteen, who worked with CR7 in Manchester, told football betting site BetVictor: “I can't see Cristiano Ronaldo in Europe again. Not now. I think he's made that conscious decision. There was a void when he left Manchester United, and he still was keen to stay in Europe and play in the Champions League.

  “There was a brief interest from Bayern Munich, but nobody really took a chance on him. That's why he went to Saudi Arabia. This is his fourth season in Saudi.

  “The money is obviously spectacular and important to him, which is good. But he must still find the level interesting enough to play at, as well as the Asian Champions League. It keeps him ticking over for Portugal, and I think that's one of the most important things for him.”

MatériaMais Notícias

Poderia ser sem sofrimento, mas, mesmo assim, o Palmeiras venceu o Corinthians, no clássico válido pela terceira rodada do Brasileirão. Em duelo disputado na noite deste sábado (29), no Allianz Parque, o Verdão bateu o Timão por 2 a 1, em uma partida em que foi praticamente inteira controlada pelos palmeirenses, mas complicada no fim com um gol contra, marcado pelo lateral Piquerez aos 29 minutos do segundo tempo.

+ATUAÇÕES: Em retorno ‘de gala’, Veiga é decisivo em vitória do Palmeiras no Dérbi

Murilo e Raphael Veiga anotaram os gols palmeirenses, ainda na etapa inicial, aos 15 e 35 minutos. Veiga, que voltou nesta noite, após 20 dias afastado por lesão muscular, também foi o autor de uma assistência.

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A partida também marcou um novo recorde de público do Palmeiras no Allianz Parque, com 41.457 torcedores presentes no Dérbi, superando os 41.444 da final do Paulistão, contra o Água Santa, há três semanas.

Pelo Brasileirão, o Palmeiras agora enfrenta o Goiás, no próximo domingo (6), no estádio da Serrinha, em Goiânia. Já o Timão recebe o Fortaleza, na Neo Química Arena, na segunda-feira (7). Antes, as duas equipes têm compromissos pela Libertadores. O Corinthians recebe o Independiente del Valle, do Equador, em Itaquera, nesta terça-feira (2), enquanto o Verdão encara o Barcelona, também do Equador, em Guayaquil, na quarta-feira (3).

+ Confira tabela e classificação do Campeonato Brasileiro

DE CABEÇA NOVAMENTE?

O Palmeiras começou tendo total controle do jogo. Dudu, pelo lado esquerdo, dava muito trabalho a Du Queiroz, improvisado como lateral-direito no Corinthians. Mas o Verdão vacilava no último passe e não conseguia criar grandes chances. Logo na primeira vez que chegou, a equipe alviverde abriu o placar, com uma receita que tem ficado batida em Dérbis: bola aérea em cobrança de escanteio. Raphael Veiga bateu, e Murilo raspou de cabeça no canto direito de Cássio, que ficou parado.

No duelo contra o Timão pelo primeiro turno do Brasileirão do ano passado, foram dois gols marcados pelos palmeirenses da mesma forma. Os lances foram muito parecidos com o gol que abriu o placar na noite deste sábado (29) a favor do Palmeiras. No encontro pelo Paulistão, em fevereiro deste ano, o Verdão também deixou a sua marca com um gol de cabeça após cobrança de escanteio. Na ocasião, Rony foi quem anotou.

+ATUAÇÕES: Róger Guedes e Paulinho são os melhores na derrota do Corinthians no Dérbi

VOLTOU BEM, HEIN VEIGA!

Mesmo após sofrer o primeiro gol, o Corinthians não conseguia criar e era dominado pelo Palmeiras. O Verdão, por sua vez, controlava o jogo e não agredia como podia. Quando o Timão tentou se lançar ao ataque, deixou um buraco na defesa, e os palmeirenses aproveitaram para ampliar o placar. Autor da assistência para o primeiro gol, Veiga deixou a sua marca. Ele voltou a jogar após 20 dias se recuperando de uma lesão na coxa. Artur disparou pela direita, fez ótima inversão para Dudu, do lado esquerdo, e o camisa 7 tocou para trás, onde Raphael chegou batendo. Na primeira tentativa, ele foi travado pelo volante Roni, mas na segunda bateu cruzado no canto esquerdo do goleiro Cássio.

Na sequência do segundo gol sofrido, o Corinthians teve aquele que foi o seu único momento de ligeiro perigo na etapa inicial, com um bate e rebate na área adversária que sobrou para Adson, que finalizou fraco e parou em uma defesa fácil de Weverton. Nos acréscimos do primeiro tempo, Róger Guedes tentou finalizar de fora da área, pelo lado esquerdo, e a bola passou próxima do gol, mas indo para fora.

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SEGUNDO TEMPO SEGUE O RITMO DO PALMEIRAS

Logo após o segundo gol palmeirense, o técnico interino Danilo Andrade promoveu a entrada de Maycon no lugar de Fausto Vera. Pouco antes, o volante argentino tinha ido até o banco de reservas e falado com o médico do time, Julio Stancati. Porém, o jogador não saiu mancando. Após o intervalo, Giuliano voltou no lugar de Romero. Mesmo assim, o Timão não mostrou evolução. Com um sistema defensivo sólido, os palmeirenses não davam espaço para os corintianos, que, ao mesmo tempo, seguiam com dificuldades na criação.

Assim, as melhores chances seguiam sendo do Palmeiras, como a bola na trave do atacante Rafael Navarro, que havia entrado no lugar de Rony no minuto anterior, aproveitando um cruzamento de Artur.

Além de perdido, o Corinthians se mostrava nervoso. Uma representação disso foi quando Giuliano deu um ‘chega para lá’ em Navarro. O camisa 20 é um dos atletas mais centrados do elenco corintiano. Os dois jogadores envolvidos no lance receberam cartão amarelo.

O QUE É ISSO, PIQUEREZ?!

Quando a vitória palmeirense parecia encaminhada, Piquerez deu emoção ao jogo. Róger Guedes cobrou escanteio, pelo lado esquerdo, no primeiro pau, o lateral uruguaio, posicionado no primeiro pau, tentou afastar, pegou torto na bola e matou o goleiro Weverton. O lance recolocou o Timão no jogo, mas também mostrou ao Verdão que ele precisava voltar a agredir. Na sequência do gol sofrido, o Palestra foi para cima e teve duas grandes chances de ampliar o marcador. Na primeira, o chute de Gabriel Menino foi para fora, mas passou próximo ao gol corintiano. Já na sequência, Jhon Jhon finalizou firme, mas parou em grande defesa de Cássio.

CORINTHIANS BUSCA, MAS NÃO CONSEGUE O EMPATE

Com o Palmeiras mais exposto, o Corinthians tentou aproveitar os espaços. Porém, o único momento de perigo foi com Paulinho, que finalizou para fora após uma jogada de velocidade de Matheus Bidu, pela esquerda, e um corta-luz de Róger Guedes. No fim, o interino Danilo Andrade tentou colocar Fagner no lugar de Du Queiroz, mas não foi o suficiente para os corintianos marcarem.

+ Assine o Star+ por apenas R$32,90 por mês e acompanhe o Verdão na Libertadores quando e onde quiser!

+ Assine o Star+ por apenas R$32,90 por mês e acompanhe o Timão na Libertadores quando e onde quiser!

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FICHA TÉCNICA

PALMEIRAS 2 X 1 CORINTHANS
CAMPEONATO BRASILEIRO – 3ª RODADA

Local: Allianz Parque, São Paulo (SP)
Data e hora: 29 de abril de 2023, às 18h30 (de Brasília)
Árbitro: Wilton Pereira Sampaio (Fifa/GO)
Assistentes: Guilherme Camilo (FIFA/MG) e Nailton Junior Oliveira (Fifa-CE)
Árbitro de vídeo: Pablo Ramon Gonçalves Pinheiro (VAR/FIFA-RN)
Público e renda:41.457 pessoas / R$ 3.587.027,46
Cartões amarelos: Mayke,Piquerez e Rafael Navarro (Palmeiras);Du Queiroz, Giuliano eRóger Guedes (Corinthians)
Cartões vermelhos: –
GOLS:1-0 Murilo (15’/1T); 2-0 Raphael Veiga (35’/1T); 2-1 Piquerez (contra) ()

PALMEIRAS:Weverton; Mayke (Garcia, 24’/2T), Gustavo Gómez, Murilo e Piquerez; Zé Rafael (Giovane 39’/2T), Gabriel Menino e Raphael Veiga (Jhon Jhon, 19’/2T); Artur (Richard Ríos, 39’/2T), Rony (Rafael Navarro, 19’/2T) e Dudu. Técnico: Abel Ferreira.

CORINTHIANS:Cássio; Du Queiroz (Fagner, 39’/2T), Gil, Murillo e Matheus Bidu; Fausto Vera (Maycon 37’/1T), Roni, Adson (Paulinho, 24’/2T) e Romero (Giuliano, intervalo); Yuri Alberto (Giovane, 24’/2T) e Róger Guedes. Técnico: Danilo Andrade.

Australia are facing the prospect of losing another pace bowler from their UK tour after Xavier Bartlett pulled up with a side strain in the first T20I against England in Southampton.He had overcome a no-ball from his first delivery, which saw Phil Salt taken at mid-off by captain Mitchell Marsh who had not heard the call and started to celebrate, to claim the wicket of Jordan Cox later in the powerplay. In a rare sight of a quick operating unchanged in a T20, Bartlett was given his four overs off the reel by Marsh as he extracted swing on a cold night but aborted his attempt to complete his last two deliveries.If, as seems likely, Bartlett’s tour is over it would add to the loss of Spencer Johnson (side) and Nathan Ellis (hamstring) from the trip. Riley Meredith, who had been called up for the Scotland series after Josh Hazlewood’s calf injury, was retained for the England T20 matches after Ellis was ruled out with an injury initially sustained in the Hundred.Related

• Matthew Short makes his case to be Warner's successor

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• Ellis out of last two Scotland T20Is and England tour with hamstring injury

Bartlett’s injury opens up the prospect of Meredith coming into the side for the second T20I in Cardiff on Friday. Allrounders Aaron Hardie and Cooper Connolly are the other options.Ben Dwarshuis is heading to England to provide cover for the injury-riddled Australian ODI squad•BCCI

The selectors had not confirmed who would come into the one-day squad which Ellis was set to be part of. New South Wales left-armer Ben Dwarshuis will fly in ahead of the ODIs although currently he is there to provide cover and has not officially been added to the squad. Dwarshuis is uncapped in ODIs but has played three T20Is.Bartlett had not been due to be part of the ODI leg despite bursting onto the scene with consecutive four-wicket hauls against West Indies earlier this year. A side injury would likely put him in doubt for the start of the domestic season with Queensland with the Marsh Cup beginning later this month before the Sheffield Shield starts in early October.Hazlewood made an impressive return to action in Southampton with 2 for 32 from his four overs which included the key wicket of Liam Livingstone who had threatened to bring England back into the contest. He and Mitchell Starc will be part of the one-day series but Pat Cummins is missing the whole tour to work on strength and condition ahead of the home summer.

Liverpool kicked off their pre-season tour in Asia with a 4-2 loss against AC Milan. Results do not matter in pre-season, of course, but it is interesting to see the likes of Florian Wirtz in action.

The attacking midfielder, who joined the Reds from Bayer Leverkusen for a British-record £116m fee in June, was all neat flicks and cute turns and intelligent one-twos. The German maestro is the real deal, all right, and could be the difference-maker as Arne Slot looks to defend his Premier League title while chasing glory across other fronts.

Hugo Ekitike didn’t feature, for he only played out his first training session with his new club on Friday, having finalised his £79m move from Eintracht Frankfurt earlier in the week.

You can be sure to expect the Frenchman’s participation in the weeks ahead. Though in what capacity remains to be seen, with the Reds chasing a deal for Alexander Isak, who has informed Newcastle United that he wants to sign for the Merseysiders.

However, one player who won’t be taking part is Joe Gomez, who has been dealt another cruel injury blow and has been forced to head home.

Liverpool's defensive situation

Jarell Quansah was sold to Bayer Leverkusen for £35m last month, thinning out Slot’s backline. In Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate, Liverpool have an elite pairing, but little else in the way of depth.

However, Gomez does have a chance to shine at the rear next year, having been utilised centrally by Slot last term after principal full-back displays across Jurgen Klopp’s final term.

Well, that was the case until the England international had to withdraw from Liverpool’s summer camp due to what has been reported as a ‘minor Achilles injury’.

There’s no doubt that this blow exacerbates Liverpool’s comparatively frail defensive depth, and may well see sporting director Richard Hughes forge ahead with plans to sign Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi.

Liverpool emerged as leading contenders for Guehi in June, with Fabrizio Romano confirming the Anfield side’s interest in the centre-back.

With just one year left on his current deal, the Reds are optimistic that they can sign the 25-year-old in a cut-price £40m package. Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur are also keen.

Why Liverpool must sign Marc Guehi

It’s funny that Liverpool have spent so heavily this summer and yet still feel fragile and thin at the back.

And with the non-committal Konate entering the final year of his £70k-per-week deal, and with Real Madrid hoping to snap him up, it feels crucial that the Reds add a player of Guehi’s quality to their ranks.

The one-time Chelsea prospect has made quite the name for himself at Selhurst Park, playing 132 games in the Premier League and winning the FA Cup last season, keeping a clean sheet against Manchester City in the final.

Liverpool need a centre-back, but Guehi isn’t any old defender. He’s perfect for Slot’s expressive yet composed system, hailed by analyst Ben Mattinson as “England’s best player” at the 2024 European Championship and described as a “monster in defence” by reporter Bobby Manzi.

Indeed, as per FBref, Guehi ranked among the top 9% of centre-backs across Europe’s top five leagues last season for goal contributions, the top 12% for shot-creating actions, the top 2% for through balls and the top 20% for successful take-ons per 90.

The 6 foot titan, not the tallest, made up for his so-called weakness in regard to stature by winning 63% of his ground duels in the Premier League last term, as per Sofascore, underscoring the kind of first-class defending Slot would be welcoming to his ranks.

There’s even a case to be made for Guehi being a more important signing than Isak.

Make no mistake, the Sweden forward is a world-class player. Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher even said that he was “the best striker in the Premier League” last season, and it’s praise that many would agree with.

Mohamed Salah, as is so often the case in the record books, was the only man to have outscored Isak in the league last year, and the Newcastle man played just 31 matches altogether, bespeaking his clinical style.

Now, while Isak would prove an incredible, level-raising signing, have Liverpool not already added Ekitike to their ranks? Data-led site FBref even reveal that the Newcastle man is one of Ekitike’s most statistically comparable players.

And with Liverpool already such a devastating attacking force, the French forward is in the perfect place to foster his burgeoning skills.

Highest-scoring Premier League Clubs (24/25)

Rank

Club

Position

Goals

1.

Liverpool

1st

80

2.

Man City

4th

66

3.

Newcastle

3rd

65

4.

Arsenal

2nd

63

5.

Tottenham

16th

62

Data via Premier League

However, Liverpool are but a Van Dijk injury away from disaster at the back, and it would be inconceivable to enter the fresh campaign, primed to defend their title, having sold themselves short in spite of such heavy spending.

That’s why Guehi’s signature could prove such an important one for Slot’s vision. Gomez simply isn’t reliable enough to serve as the skipper and Konate’s deputy, having missed the entire second half of the 2024/25 campaign with a hamstring injury; he returned in May but failed to make it off the bench.

Liverpool know that they need to get their purse out once again this summer, turning away from the spending up front and fashioning a complete and deep defensive line.

There are many centre-halves who could make a difference, but Guehi would be the pick of the bunch, and he might even prove a more important signing than Isak when the campaign is well and truly underway.

Related Bigger loss than Diaz or Nunez: Barcelona charge into race for £70k-p/w Liverpool star

The Reds could lose a key man.

Posts ByTom Cunningham Jul 26, 2025

At their current pace, Sunderland could soon have a whole starting lineup of new players to call upon.

The Black Cats are picking up fresh signings at a breakneck speed, with a whopping £67m already dropped on the services of Enzo Le Fee, Habib Diarra, and Noah Sadiki.

Amazingly, another £19.5m could soon dent the weighty Sunderland back account, with Club Brugge winger Chemsdine Talbi the reported next big buy on Regis Le Bris and Co’s agenda.

Four signings are nearly through the door, but don’t expect the Wearside underdogs to stop here as they go about assembling a Premier League-capable squad, with plenty more standout purchases in the offing.

Sunderland set sights on new £13m star

After a jubilant promotion, Sunderland might as well give it their all on their return to the top-flight, instead of just being content with making up the numbers.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

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Indeed, reports are coming thick and fast as to who Le Bris wants to add next to his ever-growing camp, with a bid of around £26m having allegedly been submitted to sign rising Real Madrid star Gonzalo Garcia.

Another name floating about is that of Armand Lauriente’s, with a new development from French outlet L’Equipe stating that Sunderland have entered negotiations to sign the 26-year-old attacker from Sassuolo.

Having caused a lot of havoc in Serie B last season, the hope will be that Lauriente explodes into life even more as a dangerous face down the Black Cats’ left flank.

How Lauriente can be Le Bris' own Amad Diallo

If Le Bris can bring Lauriente to Wearside this summer then he could potentially sign his very own Amad Diallo in the process, considering the Ivorian was once a slick attacker himself in Italy.

Amad’s numbers for Atalanta

Age bracket

Games played

Goals scored

Assists

U19s

46

13

12

U17s

41

23

6

Youth League

6

1

3

Atalanta

5

1

0

Sourced by Transfermarkt

Obviously, Amad is now more known for his exploits at Manchester United – with 26 goals and assists next to his name from 64 Old Trafford outings – but there was a time when he was considered an exciting winger ready for that next step on the books of Atalanta.

Whilst his Atalanta education ultimately won him that high-profile move to Manchester, Amad very much honed his craft at the Stadium of Light as a daring and entertaining option up top when he headed out on loan to the Mackems in 2022, leading to him strutting his stuff in style all across the 2022/23 season with 14 goals and four assists picked up from 42 clashes.

Sunderland’s new £13m-rated target will hope he finds his time at Le Bris’ men to be equally beneficial in advancing his game, with Lauriente having the useful advantage already of being proven at a top level when Sassuolo plied their trade in Serie A.

The blistering Frenchman is only two off Amad’s entire total for Man United when assessing his Italian top-flight numbers, with a mightily impressive 12 goals and 12 assists tallied up, but it’s his numbers last campaign for Sassuolo when they triumphantly moved back up to face the likes of Juventus and AC Milan again that will have really caught the eye of the Black Cats.

Lauriente’s league numbers for Sassuolo (24/25)

Stat

Lauriente

Games played

33

Goals scored

18

Assists

5

Big chances missed

4

Big chances created

6

Stats by Sofascore

In total, the former Lorient forward would pick up a bumper 23 goals and assists from just 33 Serie B games last season, with Lauriente now potentially ready to cause ripples on Wearside by challenging the likes of Enzo Le Fee and Romaine Mundle down the left wing.

Much like Amad needed Tony Mowbray’s guidance to get the very best out of him, Lauriente might be able to perform at the peak of his jaw-dropping excellence knowing he has Le Bris by his side, with this audacious free-kick below – which was heralded as “amazing” at the time by football talent scout Jacek Kulig – coming when the pair were together at Lorient.

Whilst Le Fee, Diarra, Sadiki, and Talbi will steal plenty of headlines, securing Lauriente’s services could be the best buy of the bunch, particularly if he morphs into being a star like Amad to help Sunderland beat the drop.

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Posts 1 ByKelan Sarson Jul 6, 2025