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Thijs Dallinga: A Box Office Forward
Thijs Dallinga took a touch with his right instep, shielded the ball with his body, turned toward goal and fired the ball home in off the inside of the far post. The movements, while subtle, had a coolness about them. A panache that suggests the striker that possesses it has far more years at a…
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Calvin Stengs: Feyenoord’s Misunderstood Creative Technician
Calvin Stengs is having a resurgence in Rotterdam. Formerly a promising young winger, his career struggled after leaving AZ Alkmaar for OGC Nice in 2021. However, a €6 million transfer to Feyenoord has catapulted his name back into the global spotlight. His dominant performances in both Eredivisie and Champions League games have resulted in a…
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Akor Adams: Montpellier’s Nigerian Target Man
Club: Montpellier Nationality: Nigeria Position: ST Preferred Foot: Right Height: 6’3”/190cm Age: 23 Strengths: finishing, ball-striking, heading, pace, power, strength, athleticism From Victor Osimhen to Taiwo Awoniyi to Kelechi Iheanacho to Gift Orban to Victor Boniface, few countries can compare to Nigeria when it comes to producing center forwards, and the latest striker who’s…
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Robert Boženík – Boavista’s Frustrating Fenômeno
Róbert Boženík is now in his second season for ‘As Panteras’, but can the Slovakian international reach new heights in Portugal and help Boavista improve on last year’s 9th place finish? In July 2023, Primeira Liga club Boavista announced the signing of Feyenoord forward Róbert Boženík on a permanent deal for a reported €2,500,000…
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Samuel Lino: Atletico Madrid’s Brazilian Phenom
After a season that would see them finish third in the league and fail to defend their league crown as well as finish bottom in their Champions League group, Atlético Madrid have managed to dust themselves off with an impressive start to the 2023/24 season that has seen them take 31 points from 14 matches,…
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Musa Al-Taamari: Ligue 1’s First Jordanian Player
The intricacies involved in navigating the difficult path from a non-traditional football powerhouse to a top 5 league are so often understated. It is not only the tricky pathways that prove daunting but also the tendency for talents from less heralded nations to be overlooked in favour of those emerging from footballing giants. Georgia’s…
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Cole Palmer’s Immediate Impact at Chelsea
When Fabrizio Romano mentioned a ‘mystery attacker’ was heading to Chelsea this summer, many fans were at a loss. The Blues don’t tend to do their business in private. The mystery deepened further when it was revealed that 21-year-old Cole Palmer, a player with just a handful of senior appearances to his name, was the…
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Douglas Luiz: The Answer to Arsenal’s Midfield Conundrum?
Club: Aston Villa Nationality: Brazil Position: CM, DM Preferred Foot: Right Height: 5’10”/17cm Age: 25 Strengths: ball-carrying, press resistance, duels, ball-striking, set-pieces, box-crashing Development Areas: defensive ability, aggression These Douglas Luiz links won’t go away and it’s logical why Arsenal would be interested in him. A box-crashing 8, whose press resistance with a good…
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Takumi Minamino’s Redemption in Monaco
The difficulty in excelling in a top 5 European league is so often taken for granted, especially when the conversation is about one of the less fancied ones; namely Ligue 1 and Bundesliga. People automatically assume that anybody would flourish in these places, because they don’t have the glitz and glam of the more popular…
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Julian Brandt: Borussia Dortmund’s Creative Talisman
Over the course of the last decade, Borussia Dortmund have popularised the starboy methodology into the business model of the football club. It is merely not just a coincidence that so many diamonds have been unearthed in the colours of Black and Yellow, but it has become an ingrained core value for the German club.…
