Demi Akarakiri Set for Serie A Move to Cagliari

Demi Akarakiri is walking away from the comfort of academy football and straight towards the fire of Serie A.

The 18-year-old Everton midfielder is closing in on a move to Cagliari, with reports in Italy claiming he has already completed a medical in Rome and is poised to sign a five-year contract with the Sardinian club.

The first hint didn’t come from a boardroom or a press release. It came from the player himself. Akarakiri posted a “thank you” message to Everton on his Instagram account, a clear nod to the end of a short but significant spell on Merseyside.

Everton had publicly left the door open. 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 deal, alongside Melvin Matos and Rocco Lambert. At the same time, they confirmed that fellow Under-18s players Goodness Gospel-Eze, Louis Poland, Charlie Stewart and Kean Wren would depart when their contracts expired at the end of June.

Akarakiri, though, has chosen a different route.

The London-born midfielder only joined Everton in 2024 after spending a decade in Arsenal’s academy system. Rather than wait in line for a breakthrough at Goodison Park, he is chasing a faster track to senior football with Cagliari, who finished 14th in Serie A last season under Fabio Pisacane.

Italian outlet Corriere dello Sport, relayed by Sport Witness, reported on Friday that Akarakiri underwent his medical on Thursday in Rome and is expected to put pen to paper on a five-year agreement. For a teenager with no senior Premier League appearance to his name, that is a statement of faith.

Inside Cagliari, the move is being framed as a smart strike in a changing market. The signing of Akarakiri is described as a “significant coup” for new sporting director Pietro Accardi, with the club’s strategy now built around recruiting young talent at low cost and developing them into assets that can be sold on for substantial profit.

The ambition around the deal has not been subtle. Club president Tommaso Giulini has openly hinted at the arrival, stressing that a teenager arriving from the Premier League is not coming to Italy just to bolster the youth ranks. The message is blunt: Cagliari see Akarakiri as part of their senior matchday plans straight away.

For Everton, it is the loss of a prospect they had hoped to keep. For Akarakiri, it is a gamble on himself in a league that still reveres tactical discipline and midfield intelligence.

For Cagliari, it may be the first big test of a new recruitment model—and of a teenager ready to swap academy promise for the demands of the Italian top flight.