Sunderland Target £30m Roma Forward Matias Soule

Sunderland have opened talks to sign Roma forward Matias Soule in what would be one of the standout moves of the summer window for the Wearside club.

Sporting director Florent Ghisolfi has moved early on a player he knows as well as anyone in Europe. He was the man who took Soule to Roma from Juventus in 2024, and now he wants the 23-year-old Argentina international to spearhead Sunderland’s return to the European stage.

Ghisolfi goes back to a trusted talent

This is not a speculative enquiry. Initial contact has been made, and Soule’s camp have indicated the versatile attacker is keen on testing himself in the Premier League. That green light has encouraged Sunderland to press on.

Roma, for their part, are ready to cash in. The Italian club are understood to be willing to sanction Soule’s departure for a fee in the region of £30million (€35m / $40m), a figure that underlines both his reputation and Sunderland’s growing ambition.

Soule can operate across the front line, drifting wide, playing off the striker or leading the press from central areas. Inside the club, he is viewed as exactly the kind of flexible, high-ceiling forward Regis Le Bris needs for a season that will stretch the squad across domestic and European fronts.

The message from Sunderland is clear: this is a statement target, not a luxury.

Backed by smart exits, not reckless spending

The pursuit of Soule comes as Sunderland reshape their squad without tearing out its core.

The club are in the process of completing the sale of Ivory Coast winger Simon Adingra and have already banked a sizeable fee from Eliezer Mayenda’s move to Rennes. Those deals have given Ghisolfi room to manoeuvre at the top end of the market, opening the door for another marquee arrival.

Yet this is not a club throwing money at the wall. Sources insist Sunderland are acutely aware of both UEFA and Premier League financial regulations and are structuring their summer business to stay comfortably within the rules. The ambition is aggressive, the planning calculated.

That balance is reflected in their stance on key figures. Sunderland have already made it clear they will resist attempts to prise away captain Granit Xhaka and midfielder Noah Sadiki, despite mounting interest from elsewhere. The spine that delivered last season’s success is being protected, not dismantled.

A signing for now and for what comes next

Soule is seen as the bridge between present and future: a player capable of making an immediate impact while fitting neatly into the club’s long-term recruitment model.

At 23, with Serie A and European experience behind him, he ticks the profile Sunderland have been building towards under Ghisolfi – young, technically sharp, tactically adaptable, and with resale value. The existing relationship between Ghisolfi, Roma and the player could prove decisive as negotiations develop.

The pressure now sits on Roma’s valuation and the finer details of the deal. Finances, though, are not expected to be the obstacle. Sunderland have positioned themselves to strike when the opportunity is right.

They have European nights on the horizon, a squad that refuses to stand still, and a sporting director willing to go back to a player he trusts on the biggest stage yet.

If they can land Matias Soule, Sunderland’s “historic campaign” stops being a slogan and starts to look like a plan.