Cagliari U18

Italian Serie A U18
14 Mar 2027
Sunday
Process
32 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

8 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Cagliari

11 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

A fracture rules Christian Franco out for 74 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cagliari will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Alen Sherri

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

A falling-out at Cagliari

Yerry Mina and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Vincent Sierro signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vincent Sierro and Cagliari agree another 3 years.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Daniel Maldini

Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of M'Bala Nzola

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Match

Cagliari come up short against Udinese

Udinese left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Loan watch

Riyad Idrissi wants to come home

“I did not go to Bologna to sit and watch. I want to come back to Cagliari and fight for my place.” 7 appearances in 29 matches say the rest.

In brief

Back issues
31 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

1 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

10 matches without a win for Cagliari

The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Cagliari are no longer polite ones.

Squad

A fracture rules Christian Franco out for 81 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cagliari will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Vincent Sierro asks to leave Cagliari

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Words exchanged at Cagliari

Yerry Mina and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Player ratings

Jacopo Fazzini beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Vincent Sierro falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Market

Gennaro Borrelli told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Gennaro Borrelli has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Cagliari.

The dugout

No place for M'Bala Nzola on the big day

He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Cagliari pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.

Player ratings

Alieu Fadera takes the honours

Marked 7.89 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Cagliari had the best player on the pitch.

In brief

30 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

22 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

9 matches without a win for Cagliari

The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Cagliari are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Alen Sherri stands alone

9 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Match

Nowhere to hide for Cagliari

0‑3 against AS Roma, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Match

Every point is an argument now for Cagliari

Position 18 and 14 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.

Squad

A fracture rules Christian Franco out for 90 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Cagliari will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Cagliari turn down Bodo/Glimt for M'Bala Nzola

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Tempers go at Cagliari

Yerry Mina was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Yerry Mina

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Words at Cagliari training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vincent Sierro is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

In brief

29 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

15 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Nowhere to hide for Cagliari

1‑4 against Bologna, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Market

Michel Ndary Adopo puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Cagliari, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Christian Franco breaks a bone — 98 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 98 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

No end in sight to Cagliari's wait for a win

8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Cagliari has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Yerry Mina in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cagliari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Cagliari training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yukinari Sugawara is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

Simone Giordano gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Boardroom

Inquest at Cagliari

The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.

Loan watch

Juan Rodríguez has seen enough of AS Roma

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Cagliari, and 6 appearances in 26 say he has earned the hearing.

In brief

28 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

8 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

7 matches without a win for Cagliari

The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Cagliari are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Alessandro Deiola has been here 15 seasons

281 appearances across 15 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.

Market

Leonardo Pavoletti puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Cagliari, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

The Empoli deal is off

Everything was agreed until it was not, and Leonardo Pavoletti reports back to Cagliari with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.

Squad

A falling-out at Cagliari

Yerry Mina and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Yukinari Sugawara falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Vincent Sierro

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

Jacopo Fazzini runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Loan watch

Riyad Idrissi has seen enough of Bologna

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Cagliari, and 7 appearances in 25 say he has earned the hearing.

In brief

27 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

1 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Leonardo Pavoletti damages knee ligaments — 19 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 19 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Market

Business is business: Elia Caprile goes

Basel paid $25.9M and Cagliari took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.

Market

Zé Pedro hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Cagliari can pretend not to have heard.

The dugout

Alessandro Deiola: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Cagliari have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

15 seasons of Alessandro Deiola

281 appearances across 15 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Cagliari know what they have.

Match

The wait goes on for Cagliari

6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

The terraces

A $25.9M sale, and a town that did not want it

Elia Caprile has gone, the accounts have $25.9M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Riccardo Ciervo

Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 1 signed and 1 gone

That is the business done at Cagliari until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.

In brief

26 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

25 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Leonardo Pavoletti damages knee ligaments — 26 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 26 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Elia Caprile

There were 10 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Match

The small margins put Cagliari out

Out, 0‑4 to Napoli, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.

Match

Chastening afternoon for Cagliari

A 0‑3 beating by Inter was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Market

Alessandro Deiola puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Cagliari, and it is not being withdrawn.

The terraces

A cup embarrassment at Napoli follows Cagliari home

0-4. Going out of a cup is one afternoon; going out like that is a week of phone-ins, and the manager will hear every one of them.

Market

Basel join the queue for Elia Caprile

Add another name to the list: Basel have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Elia Caprile. The answer from Cagliari has not changed — yet.

Match

The wait goes on for Cagliari

5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Player ratings

Riccardo Ciervo was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 25. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

In brief

25 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Leonardo Pavoletti damages knee ligaments — 33 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 33 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Match

Chastening afternoon for Cagliari

A 0‑5 beating by Lazio was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Market

Michel Ndary Adopo asks to leave Cagliari

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Market

Cagliari turn down Bologna for Michel Ndary Adopo

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Elia Caprile

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Lucas Picech gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Lucas Picech has just signed for Cagliari, and for once the answer mattered.

Squad

Words exchanged at Cagliari

Elia Caprile and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Transfer targets

Cagliari rebuffed over Tamerlan Musaev

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. CSKA Moscow have kept their man, and Cagliari go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

The dugout

No hiding place for M'Bala Nzola

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to M'Bala Nzola, and the manager let it.

In brief

24 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

The knee: Leonardo Pavoletti out for 42 days

42 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Cagliari lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad

Elia Caprile stands alone

10 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Squad

Tempers go at Cagliari

Elia Caprile was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Transfer targets

Cagliari rebuffed over Cosimo Patierno

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Casarano have kept their man, and Cagliari go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Match

Cagliari come up short against Napoli

Napoli left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Words at Cagliari training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Vincent Sierro is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Vincent Sierro

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Flavio Agostini left the room before anybody could ask which.

The dugout

M'Bala Nzola knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Cagliari, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

23 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Up for the corner, and Michel Ndary Adopo delivers — 7.88

Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Michel Ndary Adopo scored, was marked 7.88, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.

Squad

Elia Caprile in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cagliari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Jacopo Petriccione

Cagliari asked and Catanzaro said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Match

Torino take the points off Cagliari

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

A row about effort at Cagliari

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yukinari Sugawara was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

No hiding place for Zé Pedro

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Zé Pedro, and the manager let it.

Squad

Emanuel Pentimalli wants to go home

“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Cagliari know it.

Loan watch

Yael Trepy has seen enough of Kayserispor

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Cagliari, and 17 appearances in 20 say he has earned the hearing.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Flavio Agostini to a room that had heard them before.

In brief

22 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A falling-out at Cagliari

Elia Caprile and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The terraces

Cagliari supporters have found a favourite in Jacopo Fazzini

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Jacopo Fazzini has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Match

Cagliari find a way past Hellas Verona

Hellas Verona made Cagliari work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Squad

Words at Cagliari training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simone Giordano is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Riccardo Ciervo

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

One of those days for Jacopo Fazzini

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.02, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

The dugout

No hiding place for Alessandro Deiola

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alessandro Deiola, and the manager let it.

Match

The half-term report on Cagliari

Position 17, 12 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.

Loan watch

Riyad Idrissi counts the days

“I watch every Cagliari game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Bologna runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

In brief

21 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Michel Ndary Adopo asks to leave Cagliari

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

7 saves: Elia Caprile was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Squad

Yerry Mina in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cagliari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Sassuolo take the points off Cagliari

Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Daniel Maldini

11 goals and a season average of 7.26 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

A row about effort at Cagliari

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vincent Sierro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Alberto Dossena

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Loan watch

Juan Rodríguez wants to come home

“I did not go to AS Roma to sit and watch. I want to come back to Cagliari and fight for my place.” 6 appearances in 18 matches say the rest.

The dugout

Flavio Agostini: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

In brief

20 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Cup progress for Cagliari

A 1‑0 win over Cesena, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?

Match

Cagliari win it in stoppage time

The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 108th minute. Cesena will replay every second of the added time for a week.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Raphael Kofler at 21 — 7.85

The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Raphael Kofler did not need any: 7.85, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Yanis Massolin

Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Up for the corner, and Michel Ndary Adopo delivers — 7.85

Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Michel Ndary Adopo scored, was marked 7.85, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.

Squad

A falling-out at Cagliari

Yerry Mina and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Alberto Dossena out for 14 days

The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Alberto Dossena, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Match

Michel Ndary Adopo’s goal not enough for Cagliari

Michel Ndary Adopo scored, and precious little else went right: 3‑4 to Atalanta, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Match

Nobody could stop scoring

7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Cagliari and Atalanta in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

In brief

19 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Nowhere to hide for Cagliari

0‑3 against AC Milan, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Squad

Words exchanged at Cagliari

Yerry Mina and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

The dugout

No hiding place for Elia Caprile

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Elia Caprile, and the manager let it.

Squad

Words at Cagliari training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yukinari Sugawara is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Cagliari dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

The dugout

Flavio Agostini faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Flavio Agostini after 0‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

Squad

Raphael Kofler makes the team of the month

Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.

Market

Cagliari and Vincent Sierro are talking past each other

“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.

The dugout

Enzo Ebosse has become a man the manager trusts

Nobody at Cagliari will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.

In brief

18 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The drought breaks for Cagliari

15 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Cremonese were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.

Player ratings

Both of them Daniel Maldini's — 9.07

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.07, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Squad

A falling-out at Cagliari

Elia Caprile and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Daniel Maldini sends Cagliari past Cremonese

It finished 2‑1, and it was Daniel Maldini’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Cagliari.

Squad

A row about effort at Cagliari

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vincent Sierro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Player ratings

Riccardo Ciervo was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.

The dugout

No hiding place for Alessandro Deiola

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alessandro Deiola, and the manager let it.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Daniel Maldini

9 goals and a season average of 7.21 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Loan watch

Riyad Idrissi has seen enough of Bologna

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Cagliari, and 5 appearances in 15 say he has earned the hearing.

In brief

17 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Cagliari

15 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Market

Michel Ndary Adopo asks to leave Cagliari

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Match

Every point is an argument now for Cagliari

Position 18 and 6 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.

Squad

Words exchanged at Cagliari

Elia Caprile and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Match

Genoa take the points off Cagliari

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

A row about effort at Cagliari

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adam Obert was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

No hiding place for Vincent Sierro

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vincent Sierro, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Flavio Agostini answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

Squad

Michel Ndary Adopo wants out of the spotlight

The ambition story running the other way, and the one nobody tells: a footballer asking for a smaller stage, fewer cameras and a crowd that does not turn. It is not weakness and it is very rarely reported as anything else.

In brief

16 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

14 matches without a win for Cagliari

The run now stands at 14, and the questions being asked around Cagliari are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Elia Caprile stands alone

12 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Match

A hiding for Cagliari

Beaten 0‑3 by Juventus, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.

Squad

Tempers go at Cagliari

Elia Caprile was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Michel Ndary Adopo

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Words at Cagliari training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simone Giordano is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Boardroom

Doors closed at Cagliari

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

The dugout

Flavio Agostini answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

Player ratings

Gennaro Borrelli's mistake decides it

Ten men and a goalkeeper behind him, and it still finished in the net. He knew before anybody told him, and nobody at Cagliari needed to.

In brief

15 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

13 matches without a win for Cagliari

The run now stands at 13, and the questions being asked around Cagliari are no longer polite ones.

Match

Kevin Carlos sends Cagliari through

Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Kevin Carlos obliged against Casertana. 1‑1 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Cagliari.

Squad

Alen Sherri is the hero from the spot

A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Alen Sherri: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Semih Kılıçsoy

Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Elia Caprile in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cagliari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Cagliari come up short against Lecce

Lecce left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Yerry Mina

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

The afternoon ran through Leonardo Pavoletti

Chances created: 15. Nothing on the scoresheet and everything in the match: the pass before the pass, over and over, until the defence stopped guessing right.

Player ratings

Daniel Maldini in the eights

A performance of 8.71 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

14 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

No end in sight to Cagliari's wait for a win

11 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Cagliari has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

6 saves: Elia Caprile was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Market

Michel Ndary Adopo wants more than Cagliari are offering

“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.

Squad

Tempers go at Cagliari

Yerry Mina was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

A bad afternoon for Cagliari against Parma

0‑2 to Parma, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Words at Cagliari training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yukinari Sugawara is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

The dugout

No hiding place for Alessandro Deiola

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alessandro Deiola, and the manager let it.

Loan watch

Yael Trepy has seen enough of Kayserispor

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Cagliari, and 11 appearances in 11 say he has earned the hearing.

The dugout

Flavio Agostini answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

In brief

13 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

10 matches without a win for Cagliari

The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Cagliari are no longer polite ones.

Market

Michel Ndary Adopo wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Squad

Yerry Mina in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cagliari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A row about effort at Cagliari

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yukinari Sugawara was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

No hiding place for Leonardo Pavoletti

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Leonardo Pavoletti, and the manager let it.

Match

Cagliari and Udinese take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

The dugout

Cagliari pick somebody else ahead of Simone Giordano

There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.

The dugout

Flavio Agostini on the point

“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Flavio Agostini after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.

Squad

The formation has left Emanuel Pentimalli behind

Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Cagliari will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.

In brief

12 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

No end in sight to Cagliari's wait for a win

9 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Cagliari has to find a result from somewhere.

Player ratings

Daniel Maldini scores twice — 9.56

Two goals and a mark of 9.56 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Squad

A falling-out at Cagliari

Yerry Mina and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Real improvement from Alessandro Romano at Cagliari

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Alessandro Romano is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Match

Nobody could stop scoring

6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Cagliari and Pisa in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

Player ratings

Alieu Fadera beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 20. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Player ratings

M'Bala Nzola in the eights

A performance of 8.94 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

A row about effort at Cagliari

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vincent Sierro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Zé Pedro gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief

11 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Cagliari

8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Elia Caprile

There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Elia Caprile in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cagliari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Riccardo Ciervo

Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

AS Roma take the points off Cagliari

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Yukinari Sugawara falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

Jacopo Fazzini reaches 100 appearances

100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.

The dugout

Gennaro Borrelli gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Flavio Agostini to a room that had heard them before.

In brief

10 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Riccardo Ciervo

Successful dribbles: 30. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

The wait goes on for Cagliari

7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

A falling-out at Cagliari

Elia Caprile and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Cagliari training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simone Giordano is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Daniel Maldini

Marked 8.12 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

The dugout

Alessandro Deiola gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

14 new faces, and Cagliari are still learning each other

A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.

Match

Daniel Maldini rescues a point for Cagliari

It needed Daniel Maldini to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Bologna, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

The dugout

Simone Giordano dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

In brief

9 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Cagliari

6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

Words exchanged at Cagliari

Elia Caprile and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

The dugout

Michel Ndary Adopo gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Match

Cagliari come up short against Como

Como left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

A row about effort at Cagliari

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vincent Sierro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Flavio Agostini to a room that had heard them before.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Enzo Ebosse

The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.

Market

The Elia Caprile question follows Cagliari around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Elia Caprile’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

The dugout

Gennaro Borrelli asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

In brief

8 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

5 matches without a win for Cagliari

The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Cagliari are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Tempers go at Cagliari

Elia Caprile was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Alessandro Romano is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

Yukinari Sugawara falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Daniel Maldini

Marked 8.18 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

The dugout

Yanis Massolin gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Match

Daniel Maldini rescues a point for Cagliari

It needed Daniel Maldini to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Fiorentina, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

The dugout

The form table has caught Simone Giordano

Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.

The dugout

Flavio Agostini: “We have to be better”

“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.

In brief

7 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Elia Caprile keeps Cagliari in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Match

Nowhere to hide for Cagliari

0‑3 against Inter, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Transfer targets

Cagliari rebuffed over Lorenzo Ignacchiti

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Empoli have kept their man, and Cagliari go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Transfer targets

Edoardo Pieragnolo stays at Sassuolo as time runs out

A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Cagliari will try again when the window opens; Sassuolo may not be selling by then.

Match

4 matches without a win for Cagliari

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Cagliari are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Yukinari Sugawara falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The dugout

No hiding place for Vincent Sierro

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Vincent Sierro, and the manager let it.

Boardroom

Doors closed at Cagliari

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

Squad

Words exchanged at Cagliari

Samuele Perisan and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

In brief

6 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Transfer targets

$7.7M settles it between the clubs for Edoardo Pieragnolo

Sassuolo have accepted the money. What Cagliari do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.

Transfer targets

Cagliari rebuffed over Andy Diouf

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Inter have kept their man, and Cagliari go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Transfer targets

José Paradela stays at Cruz Azul as time runs out

A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Cagliari will try again when the window opens; Cruz Azul may not be selling by then.

Boardroom

Window shuts: 7 in, 6 out at Cagliari

The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 7 arrived, 6 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.

Squad

Tempers go at Cagliari

Yerry Mina was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Cagliari

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Adam Obert was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Alessandro Deiola gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

13 new faces, and Cagliari are still learning each other

A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.

Player ratings

Alieu Fadera runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

5 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

16 saves: Elia Caprile was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 16 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Transfer targets

Door shut on José Paradela

Cagliari asked and Cruz Azul said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

Simone Giordano gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Simone Giordano has just signed for Cagliari, and for once the answer mattered.

Market

Cagliari get their man

The chase for Samuele Perisan ended with $890.0K changing hands and Empoli out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.

Squad

Yerry Mina in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cagliari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Cagliari training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yukinari Sugawara is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Cagliari rescue it on 94 minutes

Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 94. Napoli had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.

Player ratings

Riccardo Ciervo runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Daniel Maldini rescues a point for Cagliari

It needed Daniel Maldini to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Napoli, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

In brief

4 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Business is business: Mattia Felici goes

Lazio paid $8.2M and Cagliari took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.

Market

Cagliari get their man

The chase for Enzo Ebosse ended with $990.0K changing hands and Torino out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.

Player ratings

The game went through Adam Obert — 7.14

Marked 7.14 on 17 actions at both ends of the pitch. Midfielders like this get described as unspectacular by people who have never tried to play against one.

Squad

Tempers go at Cagliari

Elia Caprile was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Boardroom

3 academy graduates step up at Cagliari

Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.

Transfer targets

Cagliari rebuffed over Assane Diao

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Como have kept their man, and Cagliari go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Match

Daniel Maldini’s goal not enough for Cagliari

Daniel Maldini scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Torino, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Alieu Fadera

Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

Gregorio Caprioli steps up from the Cagliari academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Gregorio Caprioli has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

In brief

3 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Transfer targets

Too dear: Cagliari walk away from Giacomo Satalino

$2.3M was the most the club would pay and Sassuolo were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.

Transfer targets

Cagliari make their move for Enzo Ebosse

$570.0K on the table at Torino. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Squad

Elia Caprile in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Cagliari this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Transfer targets

Cagliari rebuffed over Sindre Walle Egeli

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ipswich Town have kept their man, and Cagliari go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

The dugout

No hiding place for Michel Ndary Adopo

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Michel Ndary Adopo, and the manager let it.

Squad

Vincent Sierro falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

No place for Vincent Sierro in the new shape

He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Cagliari are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.

Looking ahead

A reunion for Michel Ndary Adopo

He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Torino in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.

Loan watch

The goals keep arriving from Kingstone Mutandwa’s exile

2 goals in 3 games at SV Ried — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Cagliari updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.

In brief

2 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Yael Trepy has said yes to Kayserispor

The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Cagliari have lost him in all but the paperwork.

Transfer targets

No deal for Daniel Boloca at that price

Cagliari offered $8.0M; Sassuolo said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.

Squad

A move Vincent Sierro would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Vincent Sierro is living that version at Cagliari, and it tends to show in the first month.

Market

Cagliari turn down Lazio for Mattia Felici

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Transfer targets

Cagliari bid $2.3M for Giacomo Satalino

The offer went to Sassuolo this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.

Squad

Elia Caprile stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Elia Caprile and Cagliari agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Words exchanged at Cagliari

Elia Caprile and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Market

Riyad Idrissi attracts admirers

The name of Riyad Idrissi has come up in conversations Cagliari were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Elia Caprile

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

1 Edition

The Cagliari Gazette

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Lazio come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Cagliari did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

A career in one shirt: Alessandro Deiola

15 seasons and 276 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.

Market

Michel Ndary Adopo wants more than Cagliari are offering

“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.

Squad

M'Bala Nzola signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” M'Bala Nzola commits to Cagliari for another 4 years.

Squad

A falling-out at Cagliari

Elia Caprile and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Market

Yael Trepy attracts admirers

The name of Yael Trepy has come up in conversations Cagliari were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

In brief