European Football’s Best New Partnerships: 7 Duos Set to Dominate in 2025/26

The 2025/26 season won’t be defined by individuals, but by partnerships; those rare duos that transform teams and rewrite tactics. Across Europe’s top five leagues, new combinations are emerging through transfers, tactical shifts, and breakout performances.

These are more than just promising pairings—they’re the engines behind title pushes, Champions League dreams, and viral highlights.

At The Trivela Effect, we’ve picked seven new duos with the chemistry, balance, and raw talent to dominate the season. From midfield pivots to attacking link-ups, these are the partnerships that could shape the entire football landscape this year.

Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz at Liverpool

Two new additions to the Liverpool lineup with a combined investment of nearly 250 million euros after being among the most prolific players in the Bundesliga last season, Hugo Ekitke and Florian Wirtz figure to hook up frequently and immediately as the new striker and playmaking pairing at Anfield.

Wirtz is one of the best players in the world already as a 22-year-old, as he was the key architect behind Bayer Leverkusen’s undefeated season and has been a starter since the age of 17.

Martin Odegaard and Viktor Gyokeres at Arsenal

Martin Odegaard is need of some positive momentum after a real down year in 2024/25 compared to the high standards the Arsenal captain sets, and the best way to wash away the sour taste from the Champions League semifinal loss to PSG is to get out there and assist and score goals in big games next season.

Finally, Odegaard will have a star striker he can hook up with at the club level, just as he pairs with Erling Haaland for Norway, and if Viktor Gyokeres’s 38 goals in the Primeira Liga are anything to go off of, Odegaard is going to feast while sending passes to the best club strikere he’s worked with since Alexander Isak at Real Sociedad.

Estevao Willian and Cole Palmer at Chelsea

Cole Palmer further cemented his status as a Ballon d’Or candidate next season by finishing off the 2024/25 campaign with an MVP-level performance in Chelsea‘s mild upset of the Club World Cup over the likes of PSG, the reigning Champions League winners – and the ultimate losers to Chelsea.

The sweet left foot of Cold Palmer will meet another sweet left foot in Estevao Willian, who also fancies himself a right winger and playmaking hybrid. Combining these two players’ technical quality, confidence, and athleticism could give Chelsea the most unbeatable one-two punch in the entire Premier League.

Matheus Cunha and Bruno Fernandes at Manchester United

Manchester United also signed Bryan Mbeumo this summer, but the playmaking pairing of Bruno Fernandes – already established as one of world football’s most prolific passers in the penalty area – and Matheus Cunha could be the trump card that Ruben Amorim plays to pulling the Red Devils out of their embarrassing franchise low.

Cunha is one of the most skilled players in the world, as evidenced by this roulette into a chip he scored years ago when he was a total unknown, and he’s an excellent secondary goal-scorer.

With Fernandes threading the needle and Cunha finishing from anywhere in the attacking half, Manchester United could be on to something with Amorim’s dueling 10s.

Luis Diaz and Michael Olise at Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich had to sign a new left winger to replace declining figureheads like Kingsley Coman, and although Luis Diaz is nearing the age of 30, there’s a reason why the Bavarians decided to pay 75 million euros for the electrifying Colombian; he dribbles like someone five years younger.

Diaz will spread width in the pitch away from Michael Olise, giving the sensational 2024 summer signing even more room to roam. Olise was just as good as Harry Kane last season, and with Diaz in the lineup, Bayern will finally have a trio rivaling the quality of the great trios they fielded to Champions League sucess in the previous decade.

Martin Zubimendi and Declan Rice at Arsenal

A welcome upgrade over the, quite frankly, grotesquely overrated Thomas Partey, Martin Zubimendi also represents great financial value as a 65 million euro defensive midfielder who can control the game and shield the back four.

Players like Zubi are a rare commodity and intensely valued in world football, which is why Arsenal actually signed him first – well before they landed a striker. In Declan Rice and Zubimendi, Arsenal will have the best double-pivot on the planet next season, giving Odegaard even more ability to focus on creating chances.

Dean Huijsen and Eder Militao at Real Madrid

It’s hard to know how much Real Madrid can expect from Eder Militao in the 2025/26 season, given he’s torn his ACLs in both knees now, but prior to these injuries, there was a strong case to be made that the two-time Champions League winner was the best center back in the world.

Meanwhile, Dean Huijsen was, as a teenager, the best breakout center back in the Premier League and one of the best overall last season. The Spanish international is everything Real Madrid were missing in the middle of the defense, and he’s already a better player than Antonio Rudiger.

Antonio Nusa and Johan Bakayoko at RB Leipzig

Antonio Nusa has shown flashes of Bundesliga Player of the Season-level potential, and although RB Leipzig are about to lose a player around that level in midfielder Xavi Simons, that will open up more of a game on the wings for Leipzig in 2025/26, especially with Benjamin Sesko likely to follow.

New signing Johan Bakayoko was one of the best players in the Dutch top flight in the 2023/24 season and still played well in 2024/25. A change of scenery could do him well, and, like Simons, the former PSV man could easily produce his finest football in the talent-making haven that is Leipzig.

Enzo Le Fee and Granit Xhaka at Sunderland

Sunderland have been loading up for, hopefully, another more prolonged stay in the Premier League, and they’ve made an interesting double swoop in midfield to create a pivot between a former Ligue 1 Player of the Season candidate in Enzo Le Fee and one of the leaders of the undefeated Bayer Leverkusen side.

Both Le Fee and Granit Xhaka have success in multiple leagues as starters, including the Premier League, and they are both well-rounded midfielders yet with differing playing styles.

Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku at Napoli

Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne are reunited in Naples after the Partenopei made an unlikely charge to the Serie A title, surviving Inter Milan with Antonio Conte uprooting the seemingly secure status of his former employers as repeating Scudetto winners.

KDB and Lukaku may be past their primes, but Lukaku reminded the world in 2024/25 that you can’t write off a legend too quickly. The big Belgian was one of the best all-around strikers with 14 goals and 10 assists, and maybe he can inspire a comeback from his countryman.

De Bruyne did have 4 goals and 7 assists with 2 key passes per game last season, so a move to Serie A, where players often age more gracefully, could be exactly what the doctor ordered for one of the greatest Premier League icons of all time.