Sunderland Target £30m Roma Forward Matias Soule in Premier League Move
Sunderland are testing their new-found status on the European stage with an audacious attempt to prise Matias Soule away from Roma in a deal that could hit £30million.
Talks have been opened for the highly-rated Argentina international, with the Black Cats sensing an opportunity to land the kind of marquee forward that underlines their transformation from promotion hopefuls to European competitors.
Ghisolfi goes back for his man
This is not a speculative enquiry. It is personal.
Florent Ghisolfi, the architect of Sunderland’s sharp recruitment drive, knows Soule as well as anyone in England. He was the man who took the 23-year-old from Juventus to Roma in 2024 during his spell as sporting director in the capital. Now, from Wearside, he is trying to pull off a reunion that would send a message across the Premier League.
Soule has quickly climbed Ghisolfi’s shortlist of attacking targets. Inside the club, he is seen as a priority – not just another name on a long list. Sunderland want a forward who can elevate Regis Le Bris’s side immediately and still grow with the project. Soule fits that brief.
Initial contact has already been made. The early signs are encouraging. Those close to the talks indicate that Soule’s camp have signalled he would welcome a crack at the Premier League. That alone has emboldened Sunderland to keep pushing.
Roma, for their part, are ready to talk. The Italian club are prepared to sanction a sale this summer and value Soule at around £30m (€35m / $40m).
A forward built for a demanding season
Sunderland’s interest is not built on hype. It is built on fit.
Soule can operate anywhere across the front line, drifting wide, stepping inside, or leading the press from central areas. For Le Bris, preparing for a season that will stretch his squad across domestic and European fronts, that versatility is gold dust.
Inside the club, the view is clear: Soule is the type of attacker who can walk into the squad and raise the level, while still aligning with Sunderland’s long-term recruitment model. Young, technically sharp, tactically flexible – and with room to grow in value.
Crucially, this is not a case of Sunderland overreaching financially. The club do not expect money to be the obstacle.
Sales fuel an ambitious window
The timing is no accident.
Sunderland are in the process of completing the sale of Ivory Coast winger Simon Adingra and have already cashed in significantly on Eliezer Mayenda’s move to Rennes. Those deals have created the financial headroom to go after a statement signing without ripping up the wage structure or gambling recklessly.
The message from inside the club is consistent: Sunderland will stay on the right side of both UEFA and Premier League financial rules. Every major move this summer is being built with those guardrails firmly in mind.
They are spending, but they are not losing their heads.
Holding their core, raising the ceiling
Ambition in the market only matters if the spine of the team stays intact. Sunderland know that.
Interest has grown in captain Granit Xhaka and midfielder Noah Sadiki, but the club’s stance has been firm. Both are considered non-negotiable pieces of the project. They are not being pushed towards the exit to fund the next wave.
Instead, the plan is to add quality around them.
Soule is seen as one of the players who can do exactly that – someone who can make an immediate impact on the pitch while still fitting into a squad built for the next phase, not just the next season. Ghisolfi is banking on his existing relationship with both the player and Roma to smooth what will be a complex negotiation.
Sunderland have already shown they can recruit smart. Now they are trying to prove they can recruit big. Whether Roma’s £30m man ends up walking out at the Stadium of Light will say plenty about just how far this club have really come – and how far they are prepared to go.
