Ramón Sosa: From Talleres to the Trent End
The winter transfer market in Argentina has well and truly belonged to one man and one man only, Talleres’ Paraguayan winger, Ramón Sosa. With months of speculation surrounding the right-footed wizard, it’s only right that he finally gets his move to the Premier League, with Nottingham Forest being the team that takes on his talents for £9.3 million.
For such a circus around his name for the past six months, it’s only right to look at his journey and why Forest have been so persistent in their pursuit of the Paraguayan. Ever since his professional debut for Club River Plate of Paraguay in 2020, he’s been on a steady upwards rise through South American football, transferring from the previously mentioned club to Paraguayan giants Club Olimpia in 2021 and then just over a year later he was on the move again, this time to Argentina.
To be specific, it was Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata he signed for, helping them qualify for the 2023 Copa Sudamericana, missing only two league games for the Platense side and scoring six times in the process. However, after just a year in La Plata he was on the move again, this time to Talleres of Córdoba, the club where he would catch the eye of clubs all over Europe.
His ability to get the ball under his spell, beat one or two defenders with his blistering pace and then produce a cross or a pass has proved deadly since his arrival last year, with him helping the Cordobés side qualify for the 2024 Copa Libertadores. In said competition, he’s caused headaches for defenders all over the continent, producing the third most successful dribbles per 90 minutes in this year’s competition, at the time of writing.
As well as his fantastic form in continental competition, he set the Copa de la Liga alight domestically, registering eight goal contributions in just 12 games, in addition to the 28 chances he created for his teammates in the same amount of time. If you have the chance, it’s highly recommended to search up Sosa’s goal catalogue on YouTube- the pick of a very impressive bunch may be his halfway line effort against Independiente.
The question now that Sosa has outgrown Argentina, ‘what can he bring to the Premier League?’ The simple answer to that question would be… goals and assists. However, as previously mentioned, Sosa is a direct winger who has the ability to embarrass the opposition whenever he pleases and in addition to this, he’s also fairly strong in the air.
As well as his pure technical ability, Sosa also possesses a good amount of physical strength, meaning he may find it easier than most to adapt to the Premier League, especially coming into a Forest side that will need to fight to stay in the division. Potentially fitting into the Forest team behind Callum Hudson-Odoi, Sosa will bring great amounts of buzzing energy off the bench, as well as crucial speed in counter attacking situations.
The 25-year-old made his debut in European football on August 28, starting alongside new recruit Jota Silva and Taiwo Awoniyi in Forest’s attacking trident before being replaced by Hudson-Odoi in the 69th minute — with the two sides locked in a 1-1 draw, Newcastle would end up prevailing 4-3 on penalties at the City Ground to send Forest packing from the EFL Cup. He would make his Premier League debut in the following match, coming on for the final 20 minutes of their 1-1 draw to Wolves, before coming off the bench in two World Cup qualifiers — a 0-0 draw at Uruguay and a 1-0 win vs. Brazil.
Will the Paraguayan sink or swim in the world’s biggest league? That question will be answered in due time, as for now, Forest fans should be very excited about his arrival.
By: Albert Hilton / @alberthltn
Featured Image: @GabFoligno / NurPhoto