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8th August 2025
11:05am BST
It's fair to say that Evan Ferguson has had the perfect start to his Roma career, scoring a heap of goals in pre-season, including four in his first game.
The 20-year-old Ireland striker is on loan with the Serie A giants from Brighton, following a tough few years hampered by injuries and a disastrous loan move to West Ham last season, with game time and goals extremely hard to come by.
While he has been written off by many, he can look to one of the world's best strikers, Viktor Gyokeres, as a source of inspiration.
He was also on the books at Brighton before a successful loan then full move to Coventry led to a transfer to Sporting CP in the Primeira Liga.
The 27-year-old scored 49 goals for his club last season, before his €73.5 million move to Arsenal this summer.
Talking to the Irish Mirror, Ireland legend Richard Dunne has compared Ferguson the Swedish sensation.
He said: "I think it's really brave of him to go off, especially when you don't know the language and it's a different culture. Hopefully it's the right move.
“The start he's had has been brilliant. He probably looked at the West Ham move and thought it was the right one. Graham Potter was there and he felt he'd get opportunities but the Premier League has become a place where you need to be proven to get those chances.
"Clubs don't have the time to take chances on players. Going to Roma he will get the chance to play every week, playing in big games and in European competitions. He will play with more freedom, where he’s one of the main men in the team. It will really benefit him.
“He had niggles and injuries for the last 18 months so hopefully he's going into a season fresh, fully fit and excited about the challenges ahead of him. This can be the making of him and get him back to where he was 18 months ago.
"He had a few bad games and was almost written off, certainly by the English media where it's 'he's not good enough for the Premier League.
"Gyokeres comes to Arsenal for €70-odd million and he's had to fight away in the lower leagues for a period, not getting games at Championship and Premier League clubs. He went away and made his name in Portugal. Now he's the best player in the world by all accounts! Evan just needs the opportunities.
“It may not be 25-goals this season, but as long as he's learning and improving, eventually you're going to see the quality we've all seen since he was a young lad. That's still in there and it will just take time to become the top striker we think he can become.
“It's about getting back on the market, getting goals and getting his confidence up. I'm excited to watch him as it's going to be a really good challenge. If he can reproduce the form he showed in his early days at Brighton, he will be a really big hit in Serie A.”
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