Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to the Italian football podcast. In some ways this is a shame, this result, in that it took away from what was an absolutely brilliant performance from Mateus Soulay. And I wanted to do a little profile now on Soulay because there is an argument to say that he has been, I mean, he's certainly been the big breakout star in Serie A so far this season, but
Speaker: There's an argument to say he's maybe even been the best player in Serie A this season. I think only Lautaro Martinez can probably argue against that. He's been unbelievable. And I don't think anybody expected Sulei to be this good. He was loaned out to Fosinoni from Juventus this past summer after struggling to find any space at Juve. And having watched him at Juve last season,
Speaker: I didn't expect this. I thought he was someone that was technically very, very gifted with a lovely left foot, great control, great touch. But I didn't see him as somebody that could be really decisive, that really was someone that could really hurt and devastate the opposition.
Speaker: Yeah, he's come to Frosinone and he's scored five goals already for Frosinone in 10 games, two goals in this defeat to Callery. He plays as a right -winger
Speaker: on the right of a 4 -3 -3 or with the Francesco at Frosinone on the right of a 4 -2 -3 -1. He has occasionally played as a number 10, but right wing is his natural role. As I said, five goals in ten games, he's got one assist,
Speaker: He's been statistically the best dribbler in the league by a mile. He's averaging 3 .7 dribbles per match. The next best is Genoa's Albert Goodmanson with 2 .2 a game. And then after that,
Speaker: we're looking at more than double anyone else in the league per match dribbles. That just shows you he's a dribbling machine. Again, having watched him at Juventus, I didn't see him as somebody that could dribble past players for fun. I didn't see him as that kind of player. He's second in Serie A for key passes per game.
Speaker: only Napoli's Piotr Zielinski is creating more. So he's been, as an attacking force, he's been unbelievable this season. And, you know, he's shown, I mean, Juventus tried to sell him in the summer. They put him up for sale. They were in negotiations with Bayer Leverkusen, with Borussia Monchengladbeck. There were Italian teams looking at him, but they couldn't agree on a transfer fee that they thought was worthy.
Speaker: of selling him, so they decided instead to put him on loan to try and build up his value this way. But now, looking at how good he has been, I mean, he looks like he's somebody that has a future at Juventus and can be a first -team player for Juventus. I mean, he's been that good. Luciano Spoletti, the Italy coach, has expressed interest. He's Argentine by birth, but Spoletti has an interest in naturalising him and looking at kind of Italy's attack. I mean, I wouldn't be against that.
Speaker: So yeah, he's been amazing. He's been at Juventus for three years, over three years. He joined as a 16 -year -old in the January 2023, almost four years. He's worked his way up through the next gen, the successful next gen at Juventus. And he's been fantastic. He's been amazing. So he has won. Everybody should watch this season. He's a joy to watch.
Speaker: No, he really is. The goals he scored yesterday were so typical of the goals he scored this season. He looks like a player who's matured to take the next step. I don't know if this is just good form or what it is, but he's been very impressive. I've been very impressed. Also against Caliari, I thought he scored two very good goals, didn't he?
Speaker: two very good goals and the way that he took that second goal. That's the one I'm thinking of. He just made it look so easy, just so classy, just effortless. He just went past the last man, sold him the dummy, come onto his right foot and then just slotted it past the keeper, so sumptuously. That was a truly wonderful finish. Yeah, he's a great player to watch.
