Bari is in a hurry now: Cerofolini close, Verreth's announcement after July 14th

With the words of president Luigi De Laurentiis and sports directors Giuseppe Magalini and Valerio Di Cesare still ringing in our ears after the two separate press conferences at the start of the week, Bari is catapulting itself onto the market. The summer session will officially open on July 1st and will end at 8:00 pm on September 1st, with the championship already underway.

As promised by the Mantua manager, the goal to be achieved in the coming weeks will be to deliver to Caserta an assorted number of players before the departure for the Roccaraso retreat scheduled for July 16 and in view of the debut on August 17 in the Coppa Italia against Milan. For Bari it will be essential not only to buy, but also to reduce the squad and free up salary space.

The list of departures among the players who wore the red and white jersey in the last and previous championship is long. In this last case, the first to say goodbye was the Frenchman Aurelien Scheidler who moved permanently to Dender in Belgium several days ago. As is known, the club has not exercised the right of redemption on the various players on loan. Starting with Coli Saco, returned to Napoli, to continue with Andrea Oliveri (to Atalanta), the defender Nosa Obaretin (will go to Avellino via Napoli), the striker Andrija Novakovich (to Lecco) and the goalkeeper Davide Marfella (contract expiry).

And, again, Raffaele Maiello, who reached an agreement with Casarano, newly promoted to Serie C. End of loan not redeemed also for Nunzio Lella: he returns to Venice after a period marked by injuries and little visibility. The dialogue with Fiorentina is intense. Costantino Favasuli returns to Viola. But from Tuscany, the lilies could send the young second striker (born in '23) Filippo Distefano on loan to the Apulians, fresh from 13 appearances and two goals in Frosinone. The attacker, who can also act as a winger, would show up in Bari after a bad injury that compromised him for much of last season. The transfer market with Frosinone leads directly to the goalkeeper born in '99 Michele Cerofolini. While waiting for the official announcement from the Galletti (a three-year permanent contract is ready), he will be the one to defend the Bari goal for next year. Cerofolini beats the competition of three other Italian number ones on whom the attention of the Bari managers had focused.

Cerofolini inherits the place of Boris Radunovic who - returned to Cagliari at the end of the loan and as anticipated the day before yesterday by the sporting director Magalini - has no chance of repeating his stint in red and white. A profile on which the Sardinians reasonably intend to capitalize, just as Pisa intends to proceed with Nicholas Bonfanti («The Nerazzurri are now traveling on high levels», were Magalini's closing words in the post-press conference on Wednesday). There should be no way back for Cesar Falletti either, who has returned to base in Cremona. The position of Nicola Bellomo must be evaluated (his contract is expiring, but he could still be integrated as a flagship player even though there are several requests for him from Serie C). Despite a good season, Lorenco Simic has been sent back to Maccabi Aifa. Maggiore and Lasagna are returning to Salerno and Verona respectively. However, with the approval of Fabio Caserta, they could both be profiles to be kept under observation. Above all the midfielder, on whom Bari will be able to exert a persuasive action by exploiting the possible mild demands of the Campanians who have just been relegated to Serie C.

The work of Magalini and Di Cesare, facilitated in the movements because with fewer surpluses to deal with compared to last year, will focus in the next few hours on finding an agreement with Genoa, owner of Andrea Favilli's contract. The Pisan striker (5 goals and one assist in 779' played in Bari in 24/25) is a profile that is appreciated by Caserta and everything will be done to please him. Incoming movements that could undergo a strong surge following the sale of Medhi Dorval. From the French-Algerian footballer, Bari could cash in a figure of around three million. An operation that would cause a cascade of additions, such as that of the central defender Mattia Tascone whose contract with Audace Cerignola expires in 2026. Ismail Achik would return to the Gialloblù in exchange. According to various market sources, Bari is very close to Marco Varnier, central defender of Juve Stabia last season, one goal in 25 games. Born in '98, his name was confirmed the other day by Magalini himself.

We will have to wait until July 14th, instead, for the announcement in red and white of the Belgian midfielder Matthias Verreth (Morkhoven 1998). He will arrive on a permanent basis (two-year) once the bureaucratic procedures related to the bankruptcy of Brescia have been resolved, with whom he played 32 games last year, scoring 4 goals and providing 2 assists. The arrival of the Central European midfielder would fit into the reasoning undertaken the day before yesterday by vice ds Di Cesare. In this sense, the positions of veterans like Maita and Benali do not seem so solid. Key players in Moreno Longo's midfield, they could figure among the excellent excluded from Fabio Caserta's new technical and tactical project. This could also concern experienced players like Pucino and Vicari for the defensive package. The adoption of a back four will, in fact, require targeted choices in terms of quantity and quality of men to be made available to the coach from Reggio. In this sense, the negotiations made yesterday evening for Gabriele Calvani, a 21-year-old central defender owned by Genoa, but on a two-year loan to Brescia, which, however, will not register for the championship, are also justified. The agreement with the Ligurian club was reached on the basis of a dry loan: the transfer can only be made official after the official exclusion of the Lombard club from the professionals. A squad to be rebuilt, in short, for the umpteenth time.