Cellino signs the next Inzaghi; Confirms he is still crazy

By: Jeremy | June 26th, 2009

I think we have all accepted the fact Robert Acquafresca will not be returning to our team on loan or via a purchase. Why he seems to think Atalanta is a step up is beyond me, but as with all things we must move on. Yesterdays heros must be forgotten and new faces must be brought in.

With Acquafrescas departure, it is clear our strikeforce is now in need of serious work. Surprisingly, Chairman Cellino has anted up and purchased the leading goalscorer from Portugal in Nene. Nene is a 26 yr old Brazillian who seems to have no other talent other then being at the right place to receive a ball and finish. He is compared to Milan stud Pippo Inzaghi, one of my favorites. If this guy, at age 26, is anything near Inzaghi, then we just stole a player for 4.5 million euros. The fact teams like Hamburg, and even Arsenal had their eyes on this guy, shows that we seem to be players for some players with real talent or atleast the potential.

Nene played for Nacional Funchal in Portugals first division last year after bouncing around Brazil for awhile with little to no success. He went from not showing any goal scoring prowess to scoring 20 last year in Portugal and leading his team to the Europa league. Not bad, even in Portugal.

One has to wonder if we got the next Inzaghi or the second coming of Larrivey. When Cellino is involved you have to wonder. Not only is he bringing in a young goalscorer from an inferior league, he is bringing in a South American who has flown under the radar and shown nothing until last year. Some players emerge at different times in their career and 25-26 is not old.

Speaking of Larrivey, he seems to be coming back to Cagliari and Cellino thinks he will be a difference maker for us next year. If Larrivey gets anywhere near the field next year, we are in trouble as it is clear that we did not improve our strike force. Cellino thinks selling Larrivey at this point would be “blasphemous”. Well, our owner is still crazy. I guess if Nene is the next Inzaghi, we can wait for Larrivey to be the next Batistuta for another year.

The good news is that team management seems to realize that the main focus for transfers should be up front. Jeda will likely stay now and having his countrymen to partner with will make him happy. If Nene plays like Inzaghi, Jedas work rate and Nenes finishing could lead to some real goal scoring in Cagliari and a strikeforce that will make us go Acqua who? If however he is another Larrivey, Jeda will want a transfer in the winter and we will be praying for a lot of 0-0 draws as we will not be able to score.

Cellino also is looking at Siena striker Calaio. I know this guy scores, but I dont want a Siena striker to come to Cagliari. I hate Siena. They are boring and cant find goals so anyone who is playing up front for them is not worth anything unless it means Larrivey wont come back. I hope some real money is spent elsewhere and we need another purchase similar to Nene. A good start though.

In other news, I believe Davide Astori will come back to us again on loan from Milan. Hopefully he will play more of a roll for us, but if he does not show much this year, look for Milan to sell him outright to us like they did Matri which is essentially the kiss of death on a young players career.

Its good to see the team jump in and grab a player with some real upside, especially upfront. While it could end up being a bust, management has shown that it can bring in the occasional player at a cheap price or at the right time who replaces a fan favorite and ultimately becomes our new favorite. We simply cannot afford sure things and as a small club its all about risk/reward types of players so Nene is our kind of find. From Suazo to Acquafresca to now Nene, things change, but our loyalty to the team remains the same.

A good day in Cagliari. Hopefully I will learn more about Nene, but for now, check out this clip. He has talent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MEgnEMwGOE