It’s that time of the season now – the final week before “Jim White Day”, or as it’s more commonly referred to… Transfer Deadline Day. As expected, rumours and links to players come thick and fast during this period, and one interesting one has turned its head. Enter Igor Paixão.
The Brazilian winger has been linked with a move to the Stadium of Light, with reports of interest coming from the likes of Keith Downie and Fabrizio Romano. If these rumours turn out to be true, then this will likely settle
any doubts among the fanbase that the club are showing an ambition to improve the squad.
That being said, here’s a breakdown of what Igor Paixão brings to the table, how he’d fit into our setup and why this potential transfer is stirring up a lot of talk.
Who is Igor Paixão?
Born Igor Guilherme Barbosa da Paixão in Macapá, Brazil, Paixão came through the youth ranks of Coritiba and shone in the Brazilian top flight. His breakout performances in his homeland, where he went on to make 84 appearances, scoring 21 goals and registering nine assists, earned him his big European move.
In August 2022, he made his move to Eredivisie giants Feyenoord and kicked on in the Netherlands.
His time at Feyenoord saw him make 129 appearances, scoring 39 times and registering 23 assists, and gave him plenty of silverware. He won the Eredivisie (22/23), KNVB Cup (23/24) and Super Cup (24/25), and finally won the “Dutch Footballer of the Year” award in 2024/25 after a 16-goal, 10-assist campaign.
Following his stellar, award-winning season, a big-money move to French soil followed, with a reported €35m transfer to Marseille. Paixão adapted quickly to the demands of French football and featured heavily for Marseille both domestically and in Europe, including key goals in Marseille’s Champions League campaign – culminating in 43 appearances, 12 goals and six assists.
What Do His Stats Say?
Paixão is predominantly a left-winger, but has experience playing all across the frontline. Paixão utilises his acceleration and low centre of gravity to beat defenders in one-v-one situations and cuts inside often, almost acting as an inverted winger.
Unlike traditional wingers who hug the touchline, Paixão places himself into “high-probability” scoring areas inside the opposition box, boasting a massive goal threat alongside excellent conversion metrics.
Paixão rates highly across multiple attacking metrics against other wingers across Europe’s top five leagues. At a base level, last season’s six goals (versus an xG of 6.45) and five assists (versus an xA of 2.64) rank him in the 80th and 88th percentiles respectively.
When this is broken down further, Paixão shines. Alongside being a high-contributing goalscorer, Paixão also ranks extremely high for the number of shots and shots on target, in the 89th and 91st percentiles respectively.
He also ranks in the 76th percentile for chances created, underpinned by his dribbling ability, where he excels in successful dribbles (81st percentile), progressive carries (90th percentile) and fouls won (83rd percentile).
This, in combination with his distribution, makes him a creative threat, as he ranks highly across successful passes (78th percentile) and successful long balls (85th percentile).
Perhaps his most desirable trait for Sunderland fans is his work rate, which includes extremely high defensive attributes. After playing in multiple “high-press” setups across his career, Paixão brings an aggressive “off-the-ball” pressing mentality to go alongside his offensive instincts.
Paixão ranks extremely highly for defensive contributions (86th percentile) for wingers across Europe’s top five leagues. This is hugely underpinned by his completed tackles (78th percentile), interceptions (86th percentile), duels won (85th percentile), aerial duels won (91st percentile), recoveries (86th percentile), possession won in the final third (88th percentile) and clearances (89th percentile).
This all points to a player just as hungry to defend his own goal as he is to score in the opponent’s. A much-loved attribute among the fanbase on Wearside, and a cornerstone of the club’s success last season.
The Verdict
If he’s half as good as he has been in my Football Manager saves, then we’ve got one hell of a player!
But seriously, all signs point to Paixão being a smart signing.
Sunderland’s priority all summer has been finding a wide attacker capable of adding goals, assists and, essentially, a threat going forward. Especially down the right flank.
Whilst Paixão has featured predominantly on the left throughout his career, he has experience across multiple forward positions – including right-wing. The signs seem to point to Paixão being the “versatile forward” Le Bris mentioned in interviews surrounding Mayenda’s departure.
Wherever he lines up, Paixão is likely to offer some samba flair, direct attacking instincts and hard graft in the red-and-white of Sunderland. From comments across social media, he looks to be a player some clubs would love to have lining up for them.
