Demi Akarakiri Set for Cagliari Move from Everton
Demi Akarakiri is on the brink of swapping Merseyside for Sardinia, with the Everton midfielder closing in on a move to Serie A side Cagliari as he looks to fast-track his way into senior football.
The 18-year-old appeared to confirm his Everton exit with a pointed message on Instagram, posting a “thank you” to the club that had only just offered him fresh terms. It was a quiet goodbye, but a decisive one.
Everton had announced on June 10 that Akarakiri, along with Melvin Matos and Rocco Lambert, had been offered new contracts as part of their end-of-season academy reshuffle. At the same time, the club confirmed that fellow Under-18s prospects Goodness Gospel-Eze, Louis Poland, Charlie Stewart and Kean Wren would all depart at the end of June when their deals expire.
Akarakiri, though, has chosen a different path.
The London-born midfielder, who joined Everton in 2024 after a decade in Arsenal’s academy, is ready to gamble on a move abroad in search of a clearer route to the top. Cagliari, who finished 14th in Serie A last season under Fabio Pisacane, are offering exactly that: a club where young talent can break through quickly, rather than wait in line behind established Premier League names.
Italian outlet Corriere dello Sport, relayed by Sport Witness, reported that Akarakiri underwent a medical in Rome on Thursday and is expected to sign a five-year contract. For a teenager yet to taste senior football in England, that kind of commitment from a Serie A club underlines how highly he is regarded.
The move is being framed in Italy as a statement of intent. The same report describes the deal as “a significant coup” for new sporting director Pietro Accardi, who is reshaping Cagliari with a clear strategy: identify promising players at a relatively low cost, develop them, and eventually sell at a premium.
Cagliari president Tommaso Giulini has already hinted at the scale of their plans for Akarakiri. Without naming him directly, Giulini made it clear that a teenager arriving from the Premier League is not being brought in simply to bolster the youth ranks. The message from the top is unambiguous: this is a signing with the first team firmly in mind, with an immediate place in senior matchday squads being pitched as part of the project.
For Everton, it is a familiar modern dilemma. An academy product, nurtured and offered a new deal, decides that the quickest way to the elite level may lie away from the Premier League. For Cagliari, it is exactly the type of calculated risk that can redefine a club’s trajectory if it pays off.
