SCOUTED

If Everton are looking for a left-footed right winger, then we would suggest Roger Fernandes. Another season at Braga would be best for him, but he would be a proper 'ahead of the curve' signing—get him now before one of the big boys do. Comes with risk, but also significant reward.

Graphic featuring Cardiff City's starting XI against Peterborough United in their 2-1 win in their EFL League One for the 2025/26 season. It includes: Matthew Turner; Ronan Kpakio, Dylan Lawlor, Will Fish, Joel Bagan; Joel Cowlill, Ryan Wintle, Rubin Colwill; Ollie Tanner, Yousef Salech and Cian Ashford. Each player is represented by a name tag, their year of birth, and respective profile photos. The graphic is set against an off-white background.

Cardiff City kicked off their first season in the third tier of English football in 23 years with a team that had an average age of 22 years old. It included six Welshmen and five academy graduates, including goalscorers Rubin Colwill and Ronan Kpakio. Trusting their own to get them back up.

Do Manchester United realise that, as is, one of Casemiro or Manuel Ugrate will be starting in midfield for them this season?

AZ Alkmaar turned three left-backs that cost around €5 million into over €40 million in sales in three years. Now, they have signed 21-year-old Mateo Chávez from Chivas and promoted 18-year-old Elijah Dijkstra to their senior squad this summer. The succession continues, and likely the success.

AZ Alkmaar had a home-grown left-back in Owen Wijndal. They sold him to Ajax and replaced him with Milos Kerkez, who was sold to Bournemouth a year later, and replaced him with David Møller Wolfe, who has just been sold to Wolves – all inside three years.

That's what good recruitment looks like.

Robin Roefs' write-up in the SCOUTED Team of the Tournament for the 2025 UEFA U-21 EURO, highlighting the attributes that made him stand out - including claiming crosses, footwork to make saves, assurance in build-up and a 'makes it look easy' trait. It featured a graphic of SCOUTED's UEFA U-21 EURO Team of the Tournament at the top and is set against an off-white background.

So much so, Robin Roefs made our Team of the Tournament – see below – and that 'makes it look easy' trait was one of the big reasons why. He claimed a lot of crosses, made a number of good saves, and propped up the Netherlands' build-up with assurance, making it all look very simple.

Close-up photo of Robin Roefs in a turquoise Sunderland goalkeeper shirt, clapping his hands together. In the background is a blurred crowd and a partial goal net.

Robin Roefs to Sunderland is one of our favourite transfers of this summer.

Going off what we've seen, the 22-year-old is a very promising goalkeeper that has a well-rounded skillset. He has that knack of making the difficult look easy, similar to a many of the very best. Standout at the #U21EURO.

Congrats, Sam. Mega move, one of the signings of the summer by ESPN 👏

Silent Protagonist: the story of Rodrigo Mora We speak to the coaches who helped develop Portugal's latest sensation

Some players are so aesthetic with a football you feel they were ordained to play the game.

Rodrigo Mora is the latest teenage sensation to emerge at FC Porto, and Bence Bocsák has spoken to his youth coaches that have nurtured one of football's best and most exciting young talents.

Since he came on, Arsenal have fed Max Dowman the ball at every opportunity—and almost every attack of any threat has gone through him. That says a lot.

Graphic featuring Middlesbrough's Hayden Hackney knee sliding to celebrate a goal. It's set against a vibrant red background.

Hayden Hackney was tipped for a Premier League move this summer—but it looks like Ipswich Town are getting him. That is a big coup for the Championship club, securing the best ball progressor in the EFL (as Ashwin Raman highlighted) to drive their promotion push.

More on SCOUTED: bit.ly/4l2WYYg

This is typically great

Finding a nest for Full-back Flyers Using SkillCorner data to discover which league is set to take advantage of the developing full-back meta

Flying full-backs are back in fashion again. A handful of Flyers, from Kerkez to Truffert, have already moved for big money this summer as teams come full circle and reconfigure the way they attack.

Jake Entwistle has used SkillCorner data to pick out the clubs and competitions where Flyers thrive.

Everton absolutely have an elite-level talent on their hands in Adam Aznou, a £40 million player if he hits his straps; they just need a bit of patience and perseverance to go with him. We'd handcuff him to Leighton Baines for a week and go from there.

Not so much for Everton, more for Aznou. Lots of pitfalls for him with this sort of move as his first step into senior football.

Where the danger comes in is this being Aznou's first proper step into senior football. He has rough edges that need rounding off, and the initial step up to the Premier League is massive. Everton have cut out the middle move—but they must commit to the developing phase of the middle move.

An excerpt from one of our UEFA Youth League round-ups which describes the performance of Adam Aznou against Galatasaray. It's set against an off-white background.

This is one of our write-ups on Aznou from a UEFA Youth League game a couple of seasons ago; at that level, he can slip past a couple in his own third then drive all the way to the final third to create a scoring opprtunity. He's the type of talent that can blow up plans of opponents.

Adam Aznous wearing a blue Everton shirt, stood in the middle of their brand-new stadium. He's looking at the camera and smiling.

Adam Aznou to Everton is fraught with danger, but make no mistake: we love him as a profile and prospect. He's a game-changer from left-back with his ability to escape pressure and eliminate in one-v-ones, move the ball through the thirds, and his threat as a crosser and shooter. Big talent.

Screenshot of Marlos Moreno's career history on Wikipedia, listing clubs which include: Atlético Nacional, Manchester City, Deportivo La Coruna, Girona, Flamengo, Santos LAguna, Portimonense, Lommel, Kortrijk, Troyes, Konyaspor, Tenereife and Atlético Nacional.

Nine years after moving to Manchester City as a highly-rated talent, 28-year-old Marlos Moreno is back where it all began for him at Atlético Nacional. He spent a total of six years in the City Football Group system, playing for three of their clubs and six others in that time.

Our very own @jakeentwistle.bsky.social Crunched The Numbers™ on Agoumé's Archetype not long ago, when he was linked with Arsenal. Think he profiled more as a Destroyer...

Why are all the strikers massive again? Detailing the reasons for and ramifications of the jumbo-sized centre-forward trend

*NEW*

Here's my big 'summer essay' for @scoutedftbl.com. With data, footage, and words from experts, I look into why the striker meta has changed at the top level, with big, physical strikers becoming the default once again.

Subscribe and read!
scoutedftbl.com/why-all-the-...

Why are all the strikers massive again? Detailing the reasons for and ramifications of the jumbo-sized centre-forward trend

Everywhere you look, another massive striker is scoring goals and doing freaky things.

Ashwin Raman has analysed the reasons for and ramifications of the jumbo-sized centre-forward trend that is taking over football—and what it means for the future, this summer and beyond.

We don’t want to write too much about Max Dowman because he is 15 years old, but it’s impossible not to: his ability and athleticism and confidence and maturity is too obvious, even against established Premier League players. He will play plenty of first-team minutes this season.

The secrets of Scandinavia From Lucas Bergvall to Sverre Halseth Nypan, Scandinavia is a hotbed for the next generation of top-level talent. But how can clubs get to it first?

We have more on Pelle Mattsson in here, a deep SkillCorner dive which picks out some exciting (and good-value) prospects in the Scandinavian leagues. The TL;DR is that he shows up well alongside Platforming Defusers like Noah Nartey and Mario Dorgeles.

Sofascore breakdown of Pelle Mattsson's match statistics for Silkeborg against Midtjylland in the 2024/25 Superligaen season.

Here's the Sofascore breakdown of Pelle Mattsson from that Midtjylland match: loads of touches, second-most passes, and winning his duels. He is the type of midfielder that you want as the cornerstone of a possession-oriented team, as he has been at Silkeborg. That should suit Norwich.

Graphic featuring match notes on Pelle Mattsson's performance for Silkeborg against FC Midtjylland in the 2024/25 Superligaen season. Above it is a photo of Mattsson in a red Silkeborg kit, clapping his fans.

Pelle Mattsson is a name we've been looking out for this summer—and it looks like he is going to Norwich City in the Championship, which we think is a shrewd move. Very few have heard of him, but he has been one of the best in Superligaen in recent seasons.

Notes below from the SCOUTED Database.

Why Cristhian Mosquera to Arsenal makes sense The Gunners bag an impressive defender as they gear up for another title challenge

◉ Played loads of minutes in LaLiga
◉ Excellent defensive footwork
◉ Adds versatile depth to backline
◉ Have rival clubs missed a trick?

Arsenal have signed Cristhian Mosquera – yes, another defender. Some may ridicule that, but here's why it's an important and impressive deal.

Is Hugo Ekitiké an Alexander Isak regen? Everyone, including us, keeps saying the Frenchman is a mini version of the Swede - let’s use data to figure out the truth

Liverpool have signed Hugo Ekitiké. Everyone keeps saying the Frenchman is a mini version of Alexander Isak, another target for the club. Sleek, slim and smooth in style, the aesthetics are similar but what about the skillsets?

Jake Entwistle has dived into an ocean of data in search of the truth.

The idea of him (in his final form) is fantastic, but you may always be chasing that idea.

He's very much an Idea Player.