It looked like Matías Soulé might have been considered expendable this summer, but now he’s set for a shot at rejuvenation. And after how he carried Roma in the first half of last season, who’s to say he doesn’t deserve to grasp the chance?
After being #1 in the 2024 and 2025 rankings, Soulé drops to third this year. That’s as much down to the rise of the two players who’ve overtaken him as it is to do with any fault of his own, but the question remains of whether Soulé, now 23, will fulfil his potential
at Roma or elsewhere – or at all.
Number three: Matías Soulé
Age: 23
Position: Winger
Shades of: Paulo Dybala, Isco, Angel Di Maria, Michael Olise
Who Is He?
Soulé is set to embark on his third season with Roma after his 2024 move from Juventus, having just established his potential on loan at Frosinone. It took a while for him to settle in at Roma – two managerial changes in your first few months at a club can do that – but he began to find his feet over the second half of his debut season.
Season two was a mirror image. Soulé was magnificent in the first half; mundane in the second.
He had an excuse, in fairness, of playing through the pain barrier. He was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t. Risk the manager’s ire by providing an excuse not to play, or push through and risk further damage while not being totally effective?
In the end, Soulé stagnated by the end of the season, so much so that Gian Piero Gasperini reportedly identified him as someone Roma could upgrade. But Soulé has stuck around, with that hypothetical upgrade not as easy to attract as the boss might have believed.
And so, although speculation of an exit persists, a potentially defining season lies in store for the Argentine winger if he does remain in Rome. Can he finally find the consistency to prove why he’s a player to build around?
What Can He Do?
For the best part of 2025 as a calendar year, Soulé showed why Roma had identified him as a suitable long-term prospect. With his ability to shoot from distance, sometimes out of only a half chance, the attacker was catching teams out and changing games.
At his best, Soulé’s unpredictable shooting can unlock games for Roma. His accuracy is often up to scratch. Moreover, he has good technical ability for a winger, being less reliant on pace and more on instinct.
He might not have explosive pace, but he can dribble. In fact, he did so more than anyone else in Serie A during his season on loan at Frosinone, which played no small part in him catching Roma’s eye. Since the move, he hasn’t ranked quite as highly across the whole league, but he was still in the top 20 last season.
Furthermore, only Artem Dovbyk and Donyell Malen have scored more goals for Roma than Soulé since he joined the club – and they’ve both played as strikers, putting them at a natural advantage.
When Soulé finds the right pockets of space and gets his head up, he can cause plenty of danger.
What can he become?
There are still areas of growth for Soulé – and enough of them for Gasperini to weigh up where he really fits into his long-term vision for Roma. Sometimes, Soulé can slow attacks down by taking too many touches. Add a bit more urgency to his game, and he could be lethal.
Besides Dybala and Malen, Roma don’t really have anyone who can match Soulé’s ability to shoot on sight and do damage in the process. But after his compatriot’s contract renewal for another season, it’s not unreasonable to ask: is he back in Dybala’s shadow again?
Rewind to projections from last year, and that wasn’t really where Roma envisaged things would be by this stage, but the contrast in their form at the end of last season was stark. Now, it’s over to Soulé to fight for his place and remind Roma why he should be a big part of their future. He could easily become a player they’d regret giving up on too soon, and there have been more than enough of those in recent years already.
There’s enough evidence to affirm that letting Soulé go would be a severe error of judgement. Write him off at your peril.
