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.

The 18-year-old appeared to confirm his Goodison Park exit on social media, posting a farewell message on Instagram in which he said “thank you” to Everton. It was a quiet goodbye from a player who has spent only a short time at the club, but whose potential has clearly attracted serious attention abroad.

Everton had hoped to keep him. On June 10, when the club confirmed they were still in talks with Idrissa Gueye over his future, they also announced that Akarakiri had been offered a new contract. Melvin Matos and Rocco Lambert received similar offers, while fellow Under-18s players Goodness Gospel-Eze, Louis Poland, Charlie Stewart and Kean Wren were all told they would depart at the end of June when their deals expired.

Akarakiri, though, has chosen a different path.

The London-born midfielder only joined Everton in 2024 after a decade in Arsenal’s academy, but with senior opportunities at Goodison looking distant, he has opted for what he believes is a quicker route to first-team football. That route runs through Cagliari, a club that finished 14th in Serie A last season and is reshaping its squad under new sporting director Pietro Accardi and coach Fabio Pisacane.

The move is already well advanced. Sport Witness, citing Corriere dello Sport, reported on Friday that Akarakiri underwent a medical in Rome on Thursday and is expected to sign a five-year contract. For a teenager yet to make his Premier League bow, that is a strong statement of faith.

In Italy, the transfer is being framed as smart business. The Corriere report describes the signing of Akarakiri as “a significant coup” for Accardi, with Cagliari repositioning themselves as a club that will recruit young talent at low cost and develop it into high-value assets. It is a familiar model in Serie A, but it only works if the club can offer minutes, not just promises.

That is where Cagliari president Tommaso Giulini has been particularly revealing. He has openly hinted at the deal, stressing that a teenager arriving from the Premier League is not coming to Italy just to play youth football. The clear message: Akarakiri is being lined up for immediate involvement in the senior matchday squad, not parked in the academy.

For Everton, it is another reminder of how quickly highly rated prospects can slip away in search of clearer pathways and bolder guarantees. For Cagliari, it is a calculated gamble on an 18-year-old who believes his future lies not in waiting, but in playing.