Cagliari forward Daniel Maldini enters the international break with his club's Coppa Italia campaign already over, eliminated at home by Hellas Verona — Mulattieri scoring the decisive goal — while the rossoblù's Serie A footing remains tentative after two matches, one win and one defeat, three points collected and a goal difference of zero.
The cup exit matters less for what it cost Cagliari in silverware and more for what it reveals about the squad's depth. Borrelli has departed on a temporary basis to Caykur Rizespor, and Belotti — who spent time at the club — is now closing on a move to Modena as a free agent. Two centre-forwards gone or going. The attacking options around Maldini are thinner than they were when the season began, which concentrates both opportunity and scrutiny on the 24-year-old.
His numbers through two Serie A matches are modest: no goals, no assists, an average rating of 6.30. That figure is not a verdict — two matches is barely a sample — but it is a baseline, and it is the kind of baseline that demands improvement before the table begins to harden. Cagliari under Fabio Pisacane sit twelfth, and the margin between mid-table comfort and something more uncomfortable is narrow this early in a season.
The arrival of Yukinari Sugawara from Southampton on a paid loan with a purchase option worth €5.5 million signals that Pisacane's squad is still being assembled rather than settled. New personnel take time to cohere, and Maldini's role within that evolving structure is not yet fixed. An AI overall of 70 out of 100, with a potential of 74, suggests a player whose ceiling is close but not yet reached — a forward who can contribute more than his current output implies, if the system around him finds its shape.
The international break gives Pisacane time to work without the pressure of a fixture. For Maldini, it is a window to sharpen what the opening weeks have left unresolved: presence in the final third, involvement in the build-up, and the kind of decisive action that moves a rating from functional to meaningful. Cagliari's autumn will be defined by whether their forward line — leaner now than in August — can generate enough to keep Pisacane's side moving up rather than down.