Nashville SC have undergone a massive roster reconstruction to transform the team into Nashville 2.0.
The midfield is entirely different. The defense has been tinkered with. But the attacking group that mustered a measly 38 goals last season remains unchanged. There’s a massive hole in the squad for a young winger, and Nashville SC have reportedly looked to fill that hole with links earlier in the transfer window to Tobias Gulliksen of Djurgarden and Ahmed Qasem of Elfsborg.
📓🕵️♂️ Brand new notebook on...
— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) January 3, 2025
🇺🇦 San Diego DP target
🇦🇺 D.C. United new CB
🇨🇲 New England working on forward
🇸🇪 Nashville bid for Sweden U-22 forwardhttps://t.co/sdRJZ28f1L
As it stands, their pursuit of both players has fallen short, and they will have to look elsewhere to find their guy before the season starts in *checks notes* 18 days. So, let's try to beat Nashville to the punch and identify some players who could fill the hole in NSC’s roster.
Profile
The two players Nashville were linked with have a lot in common, and we can use their similarities to build a profile for the type of player NSC are looking for. Here’s what we know about them biographically.
- Both are 21. Patrick Yazbek was 22 when he signed. U22 signings are very risky, and GM Mike Jacobs seems to limit the risk by signing players on the upper end of under 22.
- Both are from the Swedish first division. The Scandinavian leagues have recently been a favorite for Nashville SC, with Yazbek and Edvard Tagseth also coming from that area.
- The rumored transfer fee for them was around $3 million. There was a report that Djurgarden asked for around $4.5 million, which caused Nashville to drop out of the running and look elsewhere.
The numbers
Statistically, they have many similarities as well. Qasem is considered a center forward in these graphics, while Gulliksen is a left wing. Both are versatile and can play across the front line. Their ranking percentiles and length of the bars will be different due to playing different positions, but the numbers are incredibly similar.
- Both are good creators and pick up a lot of assists.
- They both complete a high percentage of their passes and are decent dribblers. Neither one is wasteful. With Callaghan’s possession-based philosophy, it seems like Nashville SC wants a winger who will value the ball.
- Goal scoring is not their priority. Neither one excels in the box, and they prefer to set up the goal rather than take it themselves. Gulliksen has five goals this season, but his underlying numbers suggest that isn’t sustainable.
- Both will be expected to press the opponent, and both are decent defenders for their current clubs. Team style can influence defensive actions instead of player ability, but both average five or more defensive actions per 90 minutes.
- It’s unlikely they will be relied on to cross the ball. Neither one excels in that area, completing only 25% of their crosses.
Top dollar prospects
Before we dive into this section, I have an outstanding prediction that Sam Surridge will compete for the Golden Boot this season. In the summer, I'm predicting Nashville will receive an offer for him that will be very hard to turn down.
Many players in this section are too expensive, and it would be hard to imagine the Coyotes splashing the cash required for them. But if Surridge leaves in the summer or their value isn't as high as reported, Nashville could have the funds and the need to make a move.
Marius Broholm
Club: Rosenborg (Norwegian Eliteserien)
Nationality: Norway
Age: 20
Transfermarkt value: $4.64m
2024 matches: 29
2024 goals: 8
2024 assists: 0
My personal favorite player on this list is winger Marius Broholm from Rosenborg. Valued at just over $4.5 million, the 20-year-old might be slightly out of reach for Nashville SC, but the quality is apparent.
He fits all of our established criteria while adding a goal-scoring threat. Broholm had eight goals in 29 league games, and so far, there haven’t been any solid links to a potential transfer. He falls a little short in his assist numbers, but the underlying numbers suggest he’s been unlucky with .15 xA/90 and only .04 assists/90.
Broholm is next in line for a Rosenborg club that has recently produced some impressive talent, including Sverre Nypan, who has been linked with Arsenal and Manchester City, and Nashville’s own Eddi Tagseth. If Nashville is willing to spend at the upper end of their price range, Broholm would be an excellent target.
Personally, I would take the Football Manager route and ask Tagseth to endorse the move to his countryman and former teammate to unsettle Broholm to try and wiggle the price down a bit, but that’s just me.
Louie Barry
Club: Stockport (English League One)
Nationality: England
Age: 21
Transfermarkt value: $1.9m
2024/25 matches: 24
2024/25 goals: 16
2024/25 assists: 2
Louie Barry is another of my favorite players I found during my search, and I think he’d be a home run hit for Nashville. Barry is a goal-scoring left winger, but that’s not to take away from his superb creative talent.
Barry broke onto the scene in 2022 when he scored six goals in 16 games, helping Swindon reach the EFL League 2 playoffs, where they eventually fell short of promotion. After a few quiet years and unsuccessful loans, Barry was loaned out to Stockport in League 1 two years in a row, and the stability has helped him blossom with nine goals in 22 games last season and 16 in 24 games so far this year. His success has earned him a promotion with his parent club, Aston Villa, who recalled him and sent him back on loan to EFL Championship side Hull City.
He would be one for the summer. If he’s tired of the loans and looking for a pay raise, he could be tempted by MLS. I’d also like to see how his game translates to the step up in competition. Recently, Barry has been linked with a $10m+ move to Celtic, which would put him way out of NSC’s price range unless a DP spot were to open up.
Hugo Bolin
Club: Malmö FF (Swedish Allsvenskan)
Nationality: Sweden
Age: 21
Transfermarkt value: $5.1m
2024 matches: 40
2024 goals: 13
2024 assists: 2
21-year-old Hugo Bolin of Malmö has a different player profile than we have previously identified, but he would be a dangerous weapon for the Nashville attack.
Bolin is a goal-scoring winger with 10 goals and two assists in 25 games in the Swedish first division this season. Despite his unique profile, he could still be a target for Nashville SC, for a few reasons.
First, while he’s very expensive and could be closer to a Surridge replacement than a u22 signing, he hasn't been linked with a move anywhere. His price is therefore challenging to estimate. Nashville has preferred big forwards who can play striker and slide out to the left wing, like Surridge and Pacius often do.
Nashville also needs more goal scorer. They’ve built a midfield that should create chances, but as things stand, it's tough to confidently pick out third player who could reliably score more than five goals this season. If Nashville are looking for a forward who can score and press and eventually be the focal point of the attack, look no further than Bolin.
Romaine Mundle
Club: Sunderland (English Championship)
Nationality: England
Age: 21
Transfermarkt value: $4.6m
2024/25 matches: 16
2024/25 goals: 4
2024/25 assists: 2
Romaine Mundle is a 21-year-old left winger for EFL Championship club Sunderland. Mundle has four goals and two assists in 15 matches after arriving from Standard Liege last winter for almost $2 million.
Mundle is a tricky one to profile. He's over-performing his expected goals, which can inflate his transfer value, and Sunderland could demand a hefty fee for a vital player during their battle for promotion to the Premier League.
I really like his game outside of his goal-scoring, though. He’s an excellent creator and dribbler who’s secure on the ball. But with the Premier League in touching distance for the fourth-place club, it’s hard for me to see him leaving now. Maybe another signing for the summer.
Potential bargains
Silko Thomas
Age: 20
Nationality: England
Club: Wigan Athletic (on loan from Leicester)
Transfermarkt value: $200k
2024/25 matches: 31
2024/25 goals: 0
2024/25 assists: 3
Another bargain bin player is winger Silko Thomas of Leicester, who is currently on loan to EFL League 1 side Wigan Athletic. Thomas has two assists in 24 matches this season, but stylistically seems like a perfect fit for the profile we've used so far for this exercise.
The quality in League 1 is lower than that of MLS, and this is Thomas’s first year of first-team football, so there are plenty of red flags. But Nashville could take a shot on the lotto ticket that is Silko Thomas.
Tyreece Campbell
Age: 21
Nationality: England
Club: Charlton Athletic (English League One)
Transfermarkt value: $500k
2024/25 matches: 34
2024/25 goals: 4
2024/25 assists: 1
Tyreece Campbell is a versatile attacker who plays across the front line for EFL League 1 side Charlton Athletic. Campbell has two goals and one assist this season in 27 games.
He just hit 100 appearances for his boyhood club and could be looking for the step up in competition and pay that Nashville can provide. Campbell is a creative winger who broke out last season with four goals and seven assists in 40 games. He fits the profile Nashville are looking for, and if he can take the step up in competition with a move to MLS, he would be a solid signing.
Ísak Andri Sigurgeirsson
Age: 21
Nationality: Iceland
Club: IFK Norrköping (Sweden)
Transfermarkt Value: $517k
2024 matches: 20
2024 goals: 4
2024 assists: 2
It is rare to find a player under 22 who has 5 seasons of professional experience and has found success in 2 different countries, but that’s what we have in left winger Isak Sigurgeirsson. Sigurgeirsson made his debut for the Icelandic club Stjarnan in 2020, and after a 6 goal 6 assist season in 14 games, he secured a move to his current club, IFK Norrkoping, in the top flight of Swedish soccer. The step up in competition did not hinder him as he has recorded 9 goals and 1 assist in 36 games over the last 2 seasons. Sigurgeirsson isn’t a perfect fit for the profile we established. He hasn’t flashed the same creativity for Norrkoping as he did 2 years ago and isn’t as good of a dribbler as we’re looking for, but what he provides in the goal-scoring department could make up for his shortcomings.
Livan Burcu
Age: 20
Nationality: Germany/Türkie
Club: 1. FC Madgeburg (Germany 2. Bundesliga - on loan from Union Berlin)
Transfermarkt value: $1.2m
2024/25 matches: 19
2024/25 goals: 2
2024/25 assists: 3
While scouting u22 players, you want to look for a player on the rise who has successfully stepped up to more challenging leagues and grab them before the rest of the world finds out where their ceiling is.
That is the case of Livan Burcu, who recorded 4 goals and 5 assists for Sandhausen in the Bundesliga 3 last year and now has 2 goals and 1 assist for Magdeburg in the second tier of Germany. Burcu signed with Union Berlin for $1.2 million last summer, but only signed a 2-year deal with an option for a third year. He could be obtainable for NSC.
He isn’t as secure with the ball as the profile we’ve built, but the number of smart passes he completes shows he’s an aggressive passer, which makes up for his slightly lower completion percentage.
Yago Santiago
Age: 21
Nationality: Spain
Club: Elche (Spain LaLiga 2)
Transfermarkt value: $800k
2024/25 matches: 20
2024/25 goals: 2
2024/25 assists: 3
Yago Santiago is a left winger who plays for Elche of the Spanish second division. Yago has two goals and three assists in 18 games this season after joining from Tottenham for around $200k.
Yago would be a risky signing as this is his first season of senior football at 21 years old, but that inexperience is reflected in the price. Unfortunately, Santiago tore his ACL at the end of January, making a move unlikely.
Jonny Pérez
Age: 22
Nationality: Mexico/United States
Club: Nashville SC (on loan from LA Galaxy)
Transfermarkt value: $180k
2024/25 matches: 13
2024/25 goals: 0
2024/25 assists: 0
Nashville SC's own Jonny Pérez rounds out the list.
Pérez only played 442 first-team minutes last year, below the recommended amount to create a radial chart. I did it anyway, and as a result, his stats are pushed to the extremes. His strengths and weaknesses still stand out, and they are easily identifiable.
Pérez is secure on the ball, both in dribbling and in passing, but he isn’t quite as good of a creator as Nashville is looking for in their wingers. Pérez also didn’t show much goal-scoring threat last season, but as we said, that isn’t a priority for a Nashville winger based on the profile we built.
Of course Pérez fits the bill; it’s why Nashville acquired him in the first place. But I included him on this list because he is only on loan, and Nashville has the option to make that loan permanent (for a hefty reported $1m in GAM). Nashville could pull the trigger on his option, but he'd have to have a spectacular start to the 2025 season to make it worthwhile.
U22 players are inherently risky, and finding the right guy at the right price who will overcome his red flags is critical to Nashville’s success this season. There’s a lot to be excited about in 2025 for Nashville SC, and adding a young winger would be the cherry on top of an already excellent winter window.
