Sports
The new World Cup ball is here! How a century of evolution has led to 2026’s Trionda
The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off next summer, and the world has got its first look at the official match ball that will be used at the tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Adidas has unveiled the Trionda, the 15th consecutive match ball supplied for a FIFA World Cup by the manufacturer in a relationship that dates back more than 50 years.
In all, there have been 23 different ball designs used since the first World Cup took place in Uruguay in 1930, with the Adidas era only beginning with the introduction of the classic Telstar ball at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.
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Since the first World Cup was held in 1930, the changing materials and designs used for soccer balls is a way of charting the evolution of the game itself over the past century, from a more unsophisticated era to the ultramodern professionalism of today.
We take a look at the balls used at every World Cup, from the first one staged in Uruguay almost 100 years ago to the one that will be used when the latest edition kicks off next June.
Editors’ note: This article has been updated since it was first published in 2022.
1930: Uruguay (Tiento and T-Model)
There was no official ball produced for the first World Cup, with a number of different designs used throughout the tournament in Uruguay. Unusually, the final between the hosts and rivals Argentina began with a squabble over which country would provide the match ball, leading to a compromise that saw the first half played with Argentina’s model of choice (the Tiento) before being swapped out for the Uruguayans’ preferred ball (the T-Model) at half-time. Argentina were 2-1 up at the interval before Uruguay scored three goals with their larger, heavier ball in the second half to win 4-2 and take their place as inaugural champions of the world. Make of that what you will.
1934: Italy (Federale 102)
Manufactured by ECAS (Ente Centrale Approvvigionamento Sportivi, the Italian government’s central body for sport supplies) in Rome, the Federale was perhaps most notable for being the first World Cup ball to replace thick hardened-leather laces for cotton ones. As well as improving the binding between panels, using softer laces to stitch the ball together made heading the Federale less of a headache, if you’ll excuse the pun. Pictured holding the ball here is former Czechoslovakia captain Frantisek Planicka, who led his nation to the final where they lost 2-1 to the hosts.
1938: France (Allen Coupe du Monde Officiel)
Produced by the Allen factory in Paris, the Coupe du Monde ball was similar in appearance to the Federale with its 13-panel construction, cotton laces and dark brown cowhide outer shell. However, the edges of the Allen’s individual panels were much more rounded than the 1934 ball which made it rounder and more predictable. It also had to be hand-stitched and hand-inflated by a skilled worker to achieve a spherical finish.
1950: Brazil (Superball Duplo T)
Thanks to the technical advances made during the 12-year gap between tournaments due to World War II, the World Cup in 1950 witnessed a minor revolution in the design and manufacture of the official match ball. Gone were the panels and laces of yesteryear and in came the Duplo T, which featured a moulded rubber valve through which the enclosed internal bladder could be inflated by a simple hand pump, much like all modern-day footballs. The concept had already been in use in Argentinian football for many years beforehand but the syringe valve design wasn’t cleared by FIFA for use at World Cups until 1950.
1954: Switzerland (Kost Sport Swiss World Champion)
The Swiss World Champion was the first 18-panel leather ball used at a major football tournament, with a more daring yellow colour and interlocking “W” panels lending the ball a modernised look.
1958: Sweden (Top Star)
Made by Swedish company Sydlader AB, which was founded in 1914 and initially produced leather drive belts for industrial and agricultural machinery. Sydlader was appointed as official ball suppliers for the ’58 World Cup after the Top Star was chosen in a blind test of over 100 designs by a panel of FIFA officials. Each team was then provided with 30 of the balls for use during the tournament. France forward Just Fontaine clearly liked it: He scored 13 goals in six matches in Sweden, a record for a single tournament which has never been bettered.
1962: Chile (Custodio Zamora Mr Crack)
With an 18-panel design inspired by a volleyball, the Crack was a chrome coloured ball that had a smoother, rounder surface (and hence better, more uniform behaviour) than any other World Cup match ball. It was also the last World Cup ball to be provided by a locally tendered company, with Senor Custodio Zamora of San Miguel charged with producing it especially for the tournament. Unfortunately, due to issues with abrasion, brittleness and waterlogging, the Crack was dismissed as inadequate by players and officials alike, leading to a variety of hastily sourced alternatives being used throughout the tournament instead.
1966: England (Slazenger Challenge 4 Star)
After the Crack proved to be anything but, FIFA decided that they would eschew local manufacturers and instead entrust the supply of World Cup match balls to established multinational sports companies. The first such offering was the Slazenger Challenge 4 Star, a 25-panel ball with a latex valve produced in white, bright orange and yellow and selected before the tournament by the English FA in another blind test. The orange variant was chosen for the final as England beat West Germany 4-2 in extra time to lift the Jules Rimet trophy at Wembley. Here, former U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown (right) holds the 1966 ball as ex-FIFA president Sepp Blatter marvels at the 1930 version.
1970: Mexico (Adidas Telstar)
The Adidas era began in 1970 with the introduction of the original Telstar, a 32-panel “truncated icosahedron” design that came to define what a typical football would look like for decades to come. Named after a similarly spherical U.S. satellite, a total of 20 Telstars were supplied by Adidas for use at the tournament, meaning they weren’t used in every game, with miscellaneous unmarked brown and white balls used at some matches as well. The distinct two-tone design of the Telstar also made the ball easier to follow for people watching matches at home on black-and-white televisions, though an all-white “Chile Durlast” variation was also used in some games.
1974: West Germany (Adidas Telstar Durlast)
Fundamentally the same design as the original Telstar, the Durlast featured a new, thin polyurethane coating over the leather panels that improved its resistance against waterlogging and abrasion. The tournament was a home triumph both for Adidas and the West Germany team, which lifted the trophy after beating Johan Cruyff’s Netherlands in the final.
1978: Argentina (Adidas Tango)
One of the most iconic soccer balls of all time, the Tango was introduced for the 1978 World Cup and lasted for many years with only a few minor alternations made to the design. The ’78 Tango consisted of 20 hexagonal handstitched panels coated in a thin plastic “Durlast” membrane to help guard against waterlogging. The graphic design also used triangular markings on each panel to create the illusion of white circles all over the surface, which helped players track the spin of the ball through the air more easily.
1982: Spain (Adidas Tango España)
So widely popular was the Tango design that it lasted Adidas from 1978, through the 1982 World Cup in Spain and on to the European Championships and Olympic Games of 1988. The ’82 España edition received only very minor cosmetic updates, though the seams were rubberised to improve its water resistance. The España is also notable for being the last fully leather ball to be used at a World Cup tournament before the dawn of the synthetic era.
1986: Mexico (Adidas Azteca)
While the Tango was still in use, Adidas decided that a brand new ball was required for the 1986 World Cup and hence the Azteca was created. While resembling the Tango with its hand-sewn 32-panel design, the Azteca was manufactured using 100% synthetic materials and the triangular designs on the panels featured elaborate detailing inspired by Aztec frescoes and culture. It also holds a unique place in football history by being the ball that Argentina’s Diego Maradona punched over the head of England goalkeeper Peter Shilton for his infamous “Hand of God” photo en route to winning the tournament.
1990: Italy (Adidas Etrusco Unico)
Much like the Azteca before it, the Etrusco Unico drew inspiration for its design by the ancient culture of the World Cup host nation. Rather than Aztec art, the 20 triangular triads on the Unico ball were gilded with a depiction of the lions heads regularly found in countless works of Etruscan sculpture, jewellery, fine art and architecture. The Etrusco Unico was also the first World Cup ball to feature an internal layer of black polyurethane foam beneath the outer shell to help provide further protection against waterlogging and to improve the durability and rebound quality.
Although its name conjured images of man’s ancient quest to reach the stars and the 25th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, the Questra was in essence the latest in a succession of Tango clones. Visually very similar to the three World Cup match balls that preceded it, the Questra featured the same pentagonal panel design used on the Azteca and Estruco Unico, though the flourishes in the detailing this time reflected the wonders of space exploration. The Questra was also much lighter than previous World Cup balls, leading attacking players to commend its ability to swerve and curl and goalkeepers to bemoan its unpredictability in the air.
1998: France (Adidas Tricolore)
Fittingly, the Tricolore was the first multicoloured ball to be used at a World Cup, with the traditional monochrome palette updated to reflect the traditional colours of the host nation: red, white and blue. While the fundamental design of the ball remained unchanged, the cockerel and the flag were selected as the traditional symbols of France to be incorporated into the triad motif. The Tricolore was also the last World Cup match ball to bear the now-iconic “Tango” aesthetic as Adidas began to experiment with new manufacturing techniques and altogether more daring colourways.
The Fevernova saw Adidas break away from the traditional Tango design in favour of a radical offset graphic inspired by Asian culture, which consisted of a three-pronged golden shape (inspired by a Japanese “tomoe” symbol) and red streaks meant to resemble the ancient art of calligraphy. Despite being constructed using 11 different layers, the ball was widely criticised for being far too light and unpredictable, largely as a result of the airy synthetic foam used as padding inside the rubbery polyurethane exterior.
2006: Germany (Adidas Teamgeist and Teamgeist Berlin)
The 2006 World Cup in Germany was the first tournament that saw a second, alternative design of the official match ball produced especially for use during the latter stages of the competition. The standard Teamgeist (meaning “team spirit”) was white with black oval-shaped banding and constructed using just 14 thermally bonded synthetic panels to create a rounder, more precise and almost entirely waterproof ball. A special golden version was produced for the final in Berlin. However, due to having fewer seams, air resistance was reduced to the point that several prominent players complained about the ball’s movement in the air, something which was fast becoming a pre-tournament tradition.
2010: South Africa (Adidas Jabulani and Jo’bulani)
Largely remembered as one of the most troublesome World Cup match balls of all time, the Jabulani had a lively name (translating from the Zulu phrase meaning “be happy”) and an even livelier tendency to dip, swerve and balloon away into the terraces. Made from eight moulded panels, the surface of the Jabulani was also textured with thin ridges and grooves in an effort to improve aerodynamics. However, after the opening bouts of the competition were blighted with handling errors several goalkeepers including Gianluigi Buffon and Julio Cesar went public with their concerns over the unpredictability of the ball. As in 2006, a special gold-tinted version of the Jabulani was introduced for the final staged in Johannesburg, hence the name.
2014: Brazil (Adidas Brazuca and Brazuca Rio)
The first World Cup ball to be named by public vote, the Brazuca was made from six bonded polyurethane panels and decked out in a vivid graphic inspired by Bahia bands — traditional Brazilian good luck bracelets made from colourful yarn. With the Jabulani deemed something of a failure, the emphasis was on creating an aerodynamically stable ball that performed consistently in all conditions. Thankfully, the Brazuca was able to avoid the pitfalls of its direct predecessor after undergoing two years of rigorous testing prior to the tournament. Once again, a special version was produced for the grand final in Rio de Janeiro with the green, red and blue flashes of the standard Brazuca replaced by green, gold and black.
2018: Russia (Adidas Telstar 18 and Telstar 18 Mechta)
Harking back to the glory days of the early 1970s, Adidas updated their classic Telstar design for use in Russia. Rather than using 32 handstitched panels, the modernised Telstar was constructed from just six panels thermally bonded to create a rounder, smoother, more consistent surface. However things got off to an ominous start when two balls burst during a group-stage game between France and Australia. As has become tradition, an alternative design was rolled out for the knockout phase, with the Telstar 18 Mechta (“mechta” being a Russian word for ambition) being unveiled. The only real difference being the red speckles on the shell.
2022: Qatar (Adidas Al Rihla)
The Al Rihla (a name that translates from Arabic into English as “the journey”) was a 20-panel design that Adidas said was inspired by the architecture, art and national flag of Qatar. In order to reduce air resistance at what proved to be one of the hottest World Cup finals ever, the ball was made to appear completely seamless and the shape of the thermally bonded panels were directly inspired by the sails of the famous Dhow boats that are emblematic of the Gulf state.
2026: United States, Mexico and Canada(Adidas Trionda)
The Trionda features a swirled graphic that mixes red, green and blue — a tricolor designed to represent the national colors of all three of the host countries. The red panels feature the Canadian maple leaf, the blue panels are spangled with stars, and the green swathes have a graphic inspired by the symbolic Aztec eagle.
The detailing is then added in gold, which serves as a visual reference to the World Cup trophy itself. Furthermore, the name is a nod to the 2026 tournament’s triumvirate of North and Central American hosts, with “Tri” obviously meaning “three” and “Onda” meaning “wave” in both Spanish and Portuguese.
The entire ball is made up of just four panels, with debossed lines and embossed country icons to create a surface which, according to the manufacturer, “produces optimal in-flight stability by ensuring there is sufficient and evenly distributed drag as it travels through the air.”
We’ll have to wait until next summer to find out exactly what that means for goalkeepers.
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NFL quarterback-turned-outspoken media personality Cam Newton’s latest headline-grabbing take centered on Shedeur Sanders.
The rookie quarterback is listed third on the Cleveland Browns depth chart, despite the recent benching of veteran signal-caller Joe Flacco. Dillon Gabriel was named the starter for Cleveland’s Week 5 matchup with the Minnesota Vikings, and Flacco will serve as the backup.
On Wednesday, Sanders was asked about the quarterback shuffle. The former Colorado standout pantomimed answers to reporters in the locker room. The move came on the heels of NFL analyst Rex Ryan’s previous criticisms of Sanders’ outspoken nature.
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Cleveland Browns quarterback Dillon Gabriel (5) and quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) throw passes during rookie minicamp at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus. (Ken Blaze/Imagn Images)
Sanders’ action sparked varied reactions. Newton’s takeaway revolved around his premise that the Browns are not putting the young quarterback in a position to to succeed.
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“I don’t think they want Shedeur Sanders to be successful in Cleveland,” Newton said during a recent edition of his “4th&1” podcast. “Because if you were to say, ‘I want Cleveland to have a person or a figure to have every chance to be successful,’ Shedeur has been the opposite of that.”
Cam Newton attends the BET Awards Media House on June 29, 2024, in Los Angeles, California. (Robin L Marshall/Getty Images for BET)
Newton then cited Sanders’ preseason. The 23-year-old threw two touchdowns in an exhibition win over the Carolina Panthers. He sat out the Browns’ second preseason game with an injury and largely struggled in the exhibition finale against the Los Angeles Rams.
“When you give Shedeur an opportunity to play with viable options around him, what does he do? He performs. The next opportunity for him to perform the following week, he didn’t help his case because he had [an injury]. The following week from there, if you want to see a real clear-cut identifier if he’s capable or not, you put him with the 1s. Or you put him with the valuable 2s. Don’t put him with the trash.”
Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders warms up during a practice at the team’s NFL football training camp Friday, July 25, 2025, in Berea, Ohio. (David Richard/AP Phoeo)
Newton then floated a theory about the Browns’ motives, claiming the franchise wants to keep him on the roster for business purposes.
“This is my conspiracy theory about the Cleveland Browns. Shedeur Sanders is extremely talented and well and capable of being a player in the NFL. But I do not think a lot of teams are willing to risk what’s mounting in circus-like attention that he brings naturally,” Newton said. “So therefore the Browns are stuck with this idea, if we cut Shedeur that would be bad for business. Business being, he’s good for business on our roster. If we cut him, he’s going to be picked up by somebody. When have we ever had a person on our roster to move the needle?… The Cleveland Browns have never had a player in modern day that pushes the needle like Shedeur Sanders.”
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Flacco threw two interceptions in last week’s 34-10 loss to the Detroit Lions. The Browns entered Week 5 with a 1-3 record.
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Not every great signing hits the ground running.
Andy Robertson arrived at Liverpool from Hull City and spent the first few months of the 2017-18 season sitting on the bench while Alberto Moreno ran up and down the left flank. A year later, midfielder Fabinho was signed early in the summer but didn’t play a single minute in the Premier League until Oct. 20. Come May 2019, they were both starting in Liverpool’s Champions League final win over Tottenham. And, the following season, both were stalwarts for the eventual Premier League champions.
As Liverpool won that league title, Manchester City struggled to find a replacement for their do-everything defensive midfielder, Fernandinho. They had signed Rodri from Atlético Madrid, but he didn’t seem up to the task of both progressing the ball aggressively and chopping down every opposition counter attack. And who could blame him? Reactive Atlético and proactive City were at opposite points on the tactical spectrum. Four years later, Rodri has won the Ballon d’Or, the Champions League, and four Premier League titles.
If you’d judged any of these transfers based on their first six matches, you would’ve missed out on arguably the best left back in Premier League history, a stalwart holding midfielder for one of the best teams the league has ever seen, and a guy who was literally voted as the best player on the planet last year.
So, should we just ignore everything we’ve seen so far this season, then? Not quite! But we should at least know how to weigh it: not too harshly.
So, let’s assess all of this past summer’s transfers with that in mind. No one is a bust. No one is a success. But if you had to make minor adjustments to expectations using the added evidence of the first month-plus to the season, how would you do it?
For this exercise, we went through all of the players who (A) permanently changed teams this summer, and (B) have estimated market values on Transfermarkt of €40 million or more, then determined whether the expectations for that player’s future success with his new team should be upgraded, downgraded, or maintained.
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Noni Madueke: Chelsea to Arsenal, €56 million
• Market value: €40 million
• Position: Right winger
• Age: 23
I loved this move at the time. Arsenal were getting a pre-prime player at the premium position in the sport for significantly less than significantly worse players moved for this same summer. He’d also underperformed his expected goals (xG) and expected assists (xA) numbers last season, so there was a chance for both age-related and regression-related improvement.
At the same time, it was bizarre that Chelsea were letting him go, so maybe there was something wrong we couldn’t see from the outside.
Although he’s now injured, he’d been fantastic to start the season and gave Arsenal the cover for Bukayo Saka they so badly needed last season.
Expectation adjustment: Upgrade
Liam Delap: Ipswich to Chelsea, €35.5m
• Market value: €40m
• Position: Center forward
• Age: 22
He’s only played 93 minutes and is now out injured for a couple of months.
Expectation adjustment: None
• Market value: €40m
• Position: Goalkeeper
• Age: 26
There are no questions about his shot-stopping and lots of questions about his ability with the ball at his feet. Two games isn’t enough to tell us anything yet.
Expectation adjustment: None
Mohammed Kudus: West Ham to Tottenham, €63.8m
• Market value: €45m
• Position: Right winger
• Age: 24
Through six games, Kudus has generated more than half of the expected goals assisted (1.8) than he did in all of last season with West Ham (3.1). He looked like a classic great dribbler who didn’t actually help create chances, but he’s right around 0.5 goals+assists per 90 minutes so far this season. If he can keep that up, then this is a much better signing that it initially seemed.
Expectation adjustment: Upgrade
Milos Kerkez: Bournemouth to Liverpool, €46.9m
• Market value: €45m
• Position: Left back
• Age: 21
He has struggled to start the season, but it’s unclear how much of that should be put on him. He’s touching the ball more than he did at Bournemouth, but he’s actually getting on the ball less often in the opposition penalty area and in the attacking third with Liverpool.
Kerkez flourished as an all-action up-and-down full back last season — but this season he’s being asked to help progress the ball from deep, and it hasn’t clicked.
Expectation adjustment: Downgrade
Alejandro Garnacho: Manchester United to Chelsea, €46.2m
• Market value: €45m
• Position: Left winger
• Age: 21
He’s only played 11 Premier League minutes, and a lot of that is due to his last-minute transfer and early Chelsea red cards in each of the past two games.
Expectation adjustment: None
Rayan Cherki: Lyon to Manchester City, €36.5m
• Market value: €45m
• Position: Right winger
• Age: 21
The concern with this transfer wasn’t: Will Rayan Cherki be a great attacking player? He was expected to be — he was in France, for multiple years, and Ligue 1 usually translates quite well to the Premier League.
Rather, the bigger question was: Will Rayan Cherki’s defensive shortcomings outweigh his attacking contributions? He is currently injured, so we must wait to make any adjustments.
Expectation adjustment: None
• Market value: €45m
• Position: Center forward
• Age: 25
After a lights-out opening match against Parma, he has slowly declined in effectiveness, fell out of the starting XI, and then didn’t even make it off the bench in this past weekend’s 1-1 draw with Atalanta.
The player hierarchy at Juventus seems to change every game, though, so this feels more like a wait-and-see situation.
Expectation adjustment: None
Jeremie Frimpong: Leverkusen to Liverpool, €40m
• Market value: €50m
• Position: right back
• Age: 24
While Kerkez has been forced into a role on the left that he’s not yet suited for, the plan for Frimpong on the other side also isn’t quite clear.
He’s lost out on starts to both Conor Bradley and Dominik Szoboszlai, and the former wing back has looked uncomfortable in possession whenever he’s been in traditional right back positions. Frimpong’s future role at Liverpool is slightly murkier than it was a couple months ago.
Expectation adjustment: Downgrade
João Pedro: Brighton to Chelsea, €63.7m
• Market value: €50m
• Position: Center forward
• Age: 23
Could he generate enough around the goal to be the starting center forward for a team with dreams of making a Champions League run and challenging near the top of the Premier League?
He’s scored twice and assisted three more, but his expected goals, expected assists, and expected-possession-value-added numbers are all down from last season. Still, about 1.5 of Chelsea’s six games have been with a man down, and there have been some moments where you understand how this all might work.
Expectation adjustment: Downgrade
Tijjani Reijnders: AC Milan to Manchester City, €55m
• Market value: €50m
• Position: central midfield
• Age: 26
He’s had some really nice moments where you start to get it. He went lights-out against Wolves for five minutes and briefly looked like the best player in the world as he effortlessly ripped their backline apart. And his burst from midfield and skill on the ball — combined with Erling Haaland breaking the speed of sound — created the goal against Arsenal last weekend.
But the worry with Reijnders is that he’s just that: a moments player, and not a midfielder who is able to affect the game for the full 90 minutes.
Expectation adjustment: None
Jamie Gittens: Dortmund to Chelsea, €56m
• Market value: €50m
• Position: Left winger
• Age: 20
While he looked like a long-term-project signing, there was at least a small chance that Gittens came in and immediately took it to Premier League defenses. Instead, he’s taken four total shots and created three total chances with 0.11 xG and 0.11 expected assists.
Expectation adjustment: None
Bryan Mbeumo: Brentford to Manchester United, €75m
• Market value: €55m
• Position: Right winger
• Age: 25
A reasonable expectation for Mbeumo was that he would be a pretty good attacker who would make a bad attacking team better at attacking, but that he also wouldn’t maintain his unsustainable finishing performance from last season.
Man United are now leading the league with 12.2 expected goals created through six games, and they’ve turned that into seven actual goals.
Expectation adjustment: None
1:27
Nicol: The Man United team is just not good enough
Steve Nicol questions the level of Manchester United’s players as he believes the squad needs an ‘overhaul’.
Eberechi Eze: Crystal Palace to Arsenal, €69.3m
• Market value: €55m
• Position: Attacking midfield
• Age: 27
He’s only started two games so far, so we’ll push this one off for now — but Crystal Palace do seem a little bit better without him. Well, at least, they’re not any worse.
Meanwhile, Arsenal are still scoring pretty much all of their goals from set plays, so it’s not evident how much he’s helped improve them so far. At the same time, his ball over the top for Gabriel Martinelli‘s equalizer against Manchester City was the exact kind of situation the Gunners have struggled to create over the past couple seasons.
Expectation adjustment: None
Álex Baena: Villarreal to Atlético, €42m
• Market value: €55m
• Position: Left winger
• Age: 23
This summer, Baena was the young, undervalued guy with amazing underlying stats that people like me love — the potential superstar hiding in plain sight. But he’s only played 68 total LaLiga minutes so far this season.
Plenty of other young, creative types have seen their careers stall under Atlético manager Diego Simeone, and that outcome is slightly more likely than it was a few months ago.
Expectation adjustment: Downgrade
Matheus Cunha: Wolves to Manchester United, €74.2m
• Market value: €60m
• Position: Second striker
• Age: 26
See: Mbeumo, Bryan.
Expectation adjustment: None
• Market value: €60m
• Position: Defensive midfield
• Age: 26
If we account for schedule difficulty, Arsenal have been the best team in the Premier League so far this season. And, well, Zubimendi has played every minute of every game for that same team.
There was no guarantee he’d be good enough to be a never-leave-the-field contributor for Arsenal right from the start. It already seems pretty clear that he is.
Expectation adjustment: Upgrade
Dean Huijsen: Bournemouth to Real Madrid, €62.5m
• Market value: €60m
• Position: Center back
• Age: 20
While Huijsen was really good as a teenager for Bournemouth last season, was he “immediately start for Real Madrid” good? Turns out that Xabi Alonso thinks so, and Huijsen is second among all Madrid players in progressive passes per 90 minutes.
At the same time, he’s already been red-carded once, Madrid just got annihilated by a scuffling Atlético team, and they’re in the bottom half of LaLiga for expected goals conceded.
Sounds about right for a 20-year-old who’s making the leap from the ninth-best team in the Premier League to a team that expects to win every major trophy, every season.
Expectation adjustment: None
Estêvão: Palmeiras to Chelsea, €45m
• Market value: €60m
• Position: Right winger
• Age: 18
Through six games, an 18-year-old Brazilian kid is leading Chelsea in expected goals-plus-assists per 90 minutes and he made our list of the 13 players most likely to win the Ballon d’Or in 2035.
Expectation adjustment: Upgrade
Luis Díaz: Liverpool to Bayern Munich, €70m
• Market value: €70m
• Position: Left winger
• Age: 28
There was a small chance that Diaz just didn’t fit at Bayern, but the larger issue with this deal is that it was a lot of money for a player already at the end of his peak years. That problem remains, even though Diaz has been world class in his first month-plus in Germany.
Expectation adjustment: None
Xavi Simons: Leipzig to Tottenham, €65m
• Market value: €70m
• Position: Attacking midfield
• Age: 22
He has started only two matches, neither of which was particularly notable in a positive or negative way.
Expectation adjustment: None
Benjamin Sesko: Leipzig to Manchester United, €76.5m
• Market value: €70m
• Position: Center forward
• Age: 22
The Brentford game summed up the Sesko situation as it stands: He took two shots from outside the box, another shot from no angle off a set piece, and then three shots in a five-second span that eventually led to a goal. He then didn’t take another shot after the 32nd minute.
So, it’s long stretches of inefficiency and ineffectiveness, punctuated by a moment or two every match of “oh-my-god-did-he-really-do-that.” This was what I expected, but I thought there was at least a small chance that his athleticism might overwhelm the Premier League right away.
Expectation adjustment: Downgrade
Hugo Ekitike: Frankfurt to Liverpool, €95m
• Market value: €75m
• Position: Center forward
• Age: 23
Just another lesson in why we should pay little attention to finishing performance in any given individual season: Ekitike scored 14 non-penalty goals last season in the Bundesliga from 19.38 xG. This season for Liverpool, he’s scored three goals from 1.8 xG.
Back when news of his move to Liverpool first emerged, it seemed Ekitike had all the makings of both a complete bust and a future superstar.
Since then, he’s been frustrating in possession at times — holding the ball for too long, turning it over right as multiple teammates make runs beyond him — and his red card against Southampton in the third round of the Carabao Cup was one of the funniest things you’ll ever see happen on the field. (He got sent off for picking up a second yellow card after holding his jersey up to the crowd like he was Lionel Messi at the Santiago Bernabeu, having scored a tap-in against the 19th-place team in the Championship.)
But he’s already been a plus-contributor to Liverpool — it’s unlikely that he’ll be a bust.
Expectation adjustment: Upgrade
1:17
Burley slams Ekitike for missing Liverpool’s first defeat
Craig Burley blasts Hugo Ekitike for being suspended for Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to Crystal Palace after receiving a red card vs. Southampton in the Carabao Cup.
• Market value: €75m
• Position: Center forward
• Age: 27
He’s worked really hard, and the numbers show it. Per Gradient, he’s leading all Premier League players in sprints (defined as runs where a player reached 25 kilometers per hour or greater).
But he just still hasn’t produced around the goal. He attempted zero shots in the three games against the two Manchester clubs and Liverpool, and despite starting all six games for the Gunners and not contributing much at all in build-up play, he ranks just 16th among all Premier League players for non-penalty expected goals.
Expectation adjustment: Downgrade
• Market value: €75m
• Position: Right back
• Age: 26
On the one hand, he’s barely done anything for Madrid. It even seemed like he was on the wrong side of a platoon with Dani Carvajal — and then injured his hamstring. The downside of Alexander-Arnold moving anywhere from Liverpool was his new manager not being willing to cover up for his deficiencies, or not being willing to exploit his otherworldly passing skills. And we at least did see some of that over the first couple weeks of the season in Spain.
At the same time, Liverpool look so different, and so frequently out of sorts, without him in the team. There have been so many moments where the ball goes out to the right side — some 30 or 40 yards from goal — and then … nothing happens. Play just gets recycled or someone runs down the line and tries to play a cross that gets blocked. In the past, those possessions would be immediately turned into dangerous crosses or through balls to onrushing midfielders or strikers.
The first month in Madrid was a reminder of just how unconventional of a player Alexander-Arnold is, and the first month in Liverpool was a reminder of just how freaking good he is.
Expectation adjustment: None
Alexander Isak: Newcastle to Liverpool, €145m
• Market value: €120m
• Position: Center forward
• Age: 25
He has started one Premier League match so far, and he has only played in two. Check back with me in a month.
Expectation adjustment: None
Florian Wirtz: Leverkusen to Liverpool, €125m
• Market value: €140m
• Position: Attacking midfield
• Age: 22
He has … zero goals and zero assists through six matches. Not ideal! Of course, the quality of his shots and passes suggest he should have about one of each so far, but you shouldn’t be happy with that from your then-club-record signing at attacking midfield.
The best-case scenario for this transfer was that you got a player who would immediately play at a world-class level — and then continue to do so (and maybe get even better) once Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk aged out of the starting XI. The latter is very much still in play, while the former is, too — we just haven’t seen it yet.
Expectation adjustment: Downgrade
NEWARK, N.J. — Two of the Hughes brothers are now under long-term contracts with the New Jersey Devils, after defenseman Luke Hughes signed a seven-year, $63 million contract extension Wednesday and rejoined his superstar brother Jack at training camp Thursday.
Could Quinn Hughes, star defenseman with the Vancouver Canucks, join his brothers in the near future?
Ever since Canucks team president Jim Rutherford said last April that Quinn “wants to play with his brothers,” there has been speculation about when and where that reunion might happen.
Luke and Jack are now both under contract in New Jersey until 2030, while Quinn will be an unrestricted free agent after the 2026-27 season.
“I think the three of us would all love to play together someday. Whether it’ll happen or not, who knows? We’ll see,” Luke said Thursday. “But I know he loves Vancouver and he’s the captain there. We love being here. You never know. Never say never.”
The contract Luke signed this week carries a $9 million annual cap hit. The 22-year-old defenseman is entering his fourth NHL season and has 93 points in 155 games, along with two assists in four playoff games.
Luke missed a chunk of training camp during contract talks with the Devils. Quinn Hughes also missed part of the 2021-22 preseason during free agent contract talks with the Canucks before signing a six-year, $47.1 million deal with Vancouver. Luke said Quinn offered his perspective as talks with the Devils continued.
“[He said] just stay patient and get what you want. As a family, we decided the deal and we’re really happy of the outcome and really excited to be here for the next seven years,” Luke said.
Jack said he didn’t have much advice to give his brother, given that he’d never been through a “holdout” like Luke had.
“I think it was important for him to get a deal that he’s really comfortable with,” Jack said. “I know he’s going to be ready to go for the season no matter what and you never want to miss time. But most importantly you need a deal you’re comfortable with.”
On top of missing a chunk of training camp, Luke’s preparation for this season was interrupted with his recovery from shoulder surgery in May. Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said the team is taking that under consideration in working him back into the lineup.
Luke said he has been “bag [skating] myself” back home, skating five times a week to get into playing shape. In his first day back in camp, he skated in two consecutive practice sessions to start making up for lost time.
“That is the climb. It’s a bit of a unique situation where not only has he missed camp, but he’s also coming off of a major shoulder surgery since he played last,” Keefe said. “So we want to make sure we give him the appropriate time. But he looks good. He has been through all the medicals and testing that guys would normally go through at the beginning of camp, and he’s cleared.”
Keefe said he doesn’t see a reason why Luke won’t be ready for the Devils’ regular-season opener against the Carolina Hurricanes on Oct. 9.
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