Its a slow summer so lets talk about Canini.

By: Jeremy | July 24th, 2008

Micehle Canini is one of the few young, or old for that matter, Cagliari players who are being watched by other clubs as potential transfer targets. He is a 22 year old defender who seems to be targeted for moving to Juve, Fiorentina, or Milan where they would slowly groom him to stardom. While he certainly hasnt shown to be a huge player for Cagliari yet, otherwise he would have been sold already, it is good news that we can keep another talented player for what seems like one more year. Maybe the talent that makes the big clubs look at him will emerge and make a difference for us in our yearly goal of survival.

Canini has signed a contract for this year to stay with Cagliari and his agent seems resigned to the fact that the offers for him are not big enough to get him sold to a big club so he should be staying barring a last minute deal. As with many young players who arent clearly stars, yet have the talent to crack an under 19 or under 21 national team as Canini has, they are watched by the big clubs but still need time to prove their worth with regular football. Canini is like Acquafresca in that sense but obviously not as much in demand so Cagliari still owns him for now.

In Cagliari he should get regular football in 08-09. If he emerges, he will be sold to a big club, if not, he can develop into a lower level Serie A player and make a career of bouncing from one bottom half of the table Serie A club to another. While its great to have these young developing players, its tough to lose them if they do emerge. Its wait and see for Canini but even if we lose him at some point, it is good to see any player who puts on your teams shirt do well so lets be glad he is coming back and lets hope he can be the defender that big clubs seem to think he can be.

After what was an exciting Spring in Cagliari, this summer has really been a disappointment even if luck seemed to allow us to get Acquafresca for another year. With Storari and Foggia gone, and no new transfers coming in that will seem to make a difference, young players like Canini will have to emerge to help keep this team in Serie A. As with any new season, someone always seems to surprise, but its always better to have established talent who is expected to make a difference then relying on the same players who are another year older and really only fillers on your team. Cagliari has not brought in anyone who is established and really has not brought in anyone who is even hyped with potential. While we all were drooling over Larriveys potential this time last year only to see him crash and burn, we dont even have that hope for a new player this year.

Canini is a good young player and it is always good news when your youngsters with potential arent sold prematurely to a big club who just sticks them in reserves in case they emerge later so they dont have to spend extra money by waiting to buy them. But if trying to put a positive spin on Canini returning for another year is the best news we can find at this point in the summer, we might be in for another long year trying to stay in Serie A.