Sunderland Pursue £30m Roma Forward Matias Soule
Sunderland’s first summer in Europe for a generation is not being treated as a sightseeing tour. It is being treated as a statement.
The club have opened talks to sign Roma forward Matias Soule in what would be one of the most eye-catching deals of the window, with the Italian side understood to be ready to cash in for around £30million (€35m / $40m).
This is not a speculative enquiry. Initial contact has been made, and those close to the negotiations say Soule’s camp have indicated the Argentina international is keen on testing himself in the Premier League. That alone has given Sunderland serious encouragement to push on.
Ghisolfi goes back for his man
Florent Ghisolfi is not guessing with this one. He knows exactly what he is trying to buy.
The Sunderland sporting director was the man who took Soule to Roma from Juventus in 2024 during his spell in the Italian capital. Now, installed on Wearside after masterminding one of last summer’s most admired recruitment drives, he is trying to bring the 23-year-old back into his orbit.
Soule has been identified as one of Ghisolfi’s priority targets for this window. Those inside the club see him as a perfect fit for Regis Le Bris’s demanding, high-intensity style: a versatile attacker who can operate anywhere across the front line and still offer end product.
In a season that will stretch Sunderland across domestic and European fronts, that flexibility is gold dust.
Money, margins and a marquee move
The numbers involved are big by Sunderland’s recent standards, but this is not a club gambling blindly.
The Black Cats are finalising the sale of Ivory Coast winger Simon Adingra and have already banked a substantial fee from Eliezer Mayenda’s move to Rennes. Those outgoing deals have opened up room for a marquee signing without tearing at the seams of the balance sheet.
Crucially, sources insist Sunderland are acutely aware of both UEFA and Premier League financial rules. Every move is being structured with those guardrails in mind. The message from inside the club is clear: this is ambition, not recklessness.
Finances, at this stage, are not expected to be the obstacle. Agreement with Roma and the player’s camp will decide whether this gathers pace or fades into the background noise of a busy window.
Holding their ground, raising the bar
What gives this pursuit extra weight is what Sunderland are refusing to do. They are not funding a rebuild by dismantling the core of last season’s success.
The club have already made their stance plain over captain Granit Xhaka and midfielder Noah Sadiki, batting away growing interest from elsewhere. Both remain central to the project and are not being pushed towards the exit to make room for new faces.
The strategy is sharper than that: keep the leaders, keep the structure, then add quality on top.
Soule fits that brief. At 23, he offers immediate impact with years of upside, a player who can grow with the club while still walking into the squad as a difference-maker from day one.
Ghisolfi is banking on his existing relationship with both Roma and the player to help smooth negotiations. Roma’s willingness to sell, Sunderland’s financial headroom and Soule’s interest in the Premier League have aligned.
Now comes the hard part: turning a bold move into a done deal, and proving that Sunderland’s return to Europe is not the peak of the story, but the start of a new chapter.
