A press conference that gave various ideas, from the situation of some players to the new coach, passing through the economic aspect. The words of the sports director of Cagliari Nereo Bonatoarrived at the usual end-of-season meeting with journalists at Unipol Domus yesterday June 13th, they highlighted a theme above all. Because if only a year ago the rossoblù club was facing a recovery process, now the recovery “has almost happened”. Hands free on the market, the water at the throat of the liquidity indicator is a memory.
Path
Downward agreements, a race against time to raise the necessary millions and restore order in the liquidity area. It was June 2023, Vicar And Bellanova not redeemed by Empoli And Inter only to find a different meeting point a few days later with the Tuscans and with the Turin who, given the Nerazzurri’s renunciation, aimed at Rho’s winger to give Juric a slider in the right lane. And then the amount of wages to be sorted out, after that bigger-than-life step taken at the time of the sale of Barella and the arrival of the various Nández, Rog, Simeone and company. With Covid doing the rest and the budgets of all the clubs A league who had to deal with the pandemic and a generalized bloodbath. With or without relegation in 2022 the Cagliari would still have had to close the purse strings and reorganize, the arrival of Bonato and the corporate reorganization were then a further step to cancel flights of fancy and look realistically at the potential of the rossoblù club. One step at a time, arm yourself with patience and the objective of maintaining the category first and foremost, through the construction of a squad made up of a mix of experts and young people, a risk in some ways calculated which found in salvation with Claudio Ranieri at the helm the closing of the circle opened in June 2022. And now, thanks to Serie A being held tight despite various difficulties, the path can take the next step. However, without forgetting what was wrong in the past, keeping alive the theme of a salary that does not go beyond one’s possibilities and trying to carry forward a virtuous path that does not forget the sporting aspect, far from it. And the awareness that not everything has been rosy in the last year and a half, as well as a legacy – that of Ranieri – not to be seen as an obstacle, but rather as the beginning of a path to follow and from which to learn in view of the near future.
Between football and finance
Has Cagliari suddenly become a club capable of spending and spreading on the market? Or, simply, has we finally reached the zero point from which to build without forgetting the mistakes made and, indeed, drawing useful lessons from them so as not to make mistakes again? It is certainly the second question that leads to an affirmative answer. Because, after all, the rossoblù have overcome a significant obstacle and can now look forward to the future with confidence A league that will come. No longer as a freshman – to be understood strictly as synonymous with newly promoted team – but as a team that wants to consolidate the category and undertake a slow but continuous path towards calmer positions in the standings. Without being forced to give in regardless of the offers, but with the upper hand. Cagliari, it goes without saying, does not close the doors to offers for its most sought-after players – from Dossena to Luvumbopassing through Makoumbou, Meadows, Obert and others – but compared to last season he has the opportunity to sit at the negotiating table in a stronger position. All important, none indispensable and, above all, none untransferable. But on the conditions of the rossoblù club. Just as incoming investments do not a priori exclude players of higher caliber, but who will still have to fall within the economic parameters both in terms of price tag and, above all, in terms of salary. Having lost Nández, for example, plus the downward renewal of Pavoletti and the ongoing discussion with Viola along the same lines has allowed the club to further lower the wage bill, effectively halving it compared to that of the summer of 2019. A line that will remain the guiding star, but which at the same time opens up the possibility to strengthen the squad. Right from the start, because the 2023-24 budget leaves your hands free and the liquidity indicator is no longer a bogeyman to be taken into account without any ifs or buts.
Challenge
Forgetting the past is not easy. Forget the mistakes you made and pretend that nothing even happened. At least for an environment that, while listening to the words of Bonato, awaits the sporting director at the gate. Declarations yes, but everything will have to be proven by facts. That is, from that of the market – incoming and outgoing – and then from that of the field. Always sovereign. For this reason, after the year that could be defined as minus one – that of the return to Serie A and subsequent salvation – we expect that year zero will truly be a season of construction and few worries rather than yet another step of the shrimp. With a square called to arm itself with patience, at least in the first period of the post Ranieri. And a call, an even more complicated step, to put aside the past – both distant and closer – and to give trust sight unseen to a club that hasn’t done much to deserve it until today. Yet, looking at what happened last summer, there was no shortage of positive signs. The arrivals of young people like Prati and Sulemana, as well as a January transfer market which with only two additions – Mina and Gaetano – he fixed a squad in technical and mental difficulty, these are elements that can be seen as the beginning of a management revolution. In addition to the media aspect of a sports director who does not promise, but who on the contrary keeps a low profile. Few promises, a lot of concreteness, accepting the risk of not giving space to legitimate expectations, but which would clash with reality. What matters, ultimately, is that the Cagliari can undertake “a path of gradual growth”, despite the fact that “without wanting everything immediately” clashes with the legitimate hopes of the market. A hungry square, a square that would like a different dimension and that can make people dream again. This is the real challenge of the future for the rossoblù club: making the environment accept that it still has to wait, but at the same time demonstrating that the wait will not be in vain. On the contrary, the wind of bad mood could blow again and, at that point, it would become difficult to stop it. Flying low can give results, but sooner or later the same flight reaches a higher altitude. Because, ultimately, humility and realism pay off if they lead to a step forward and exceeding expectations. Otherwise remaining flat becomes a boomerang perhaps even worse than proclamations and hopes.
Matteo Zizola
