Flying Kiwis – Deadline Day Deals With Liberato Cacace & Joe Bell
As a general strategy, it helps not to leave all your work until the last possible minute. Cramming hard the night before an exam or working into the early hours of the morning on that assignment. Much better to pace things to where you don’t end up in an emotional whirlpool teetering on the edge of existential dread at the way that time bounds and leaps in the exact moments you need it to do the opposite.
As another general rule it also helps not to follow the example of how football clubs operate because they’re always leaving things up to the last possible minute. That’s why there’s a deadline day in the first place. Some of these jokers couldn’t tie their own shoelaces without first picturing a window slamming shut (they always slam, they never close gently).
This month of January has been an absolute stunner for kiwi transfers. Can’t say you weren’t warned either. Every couple of days there was another banger of a move taking place from sneaky Aotearoa to Pro moves like Ollie Whyte and Alex Greive to global blockbusters like Chris Wood’s new gig. And there are still a couple of free agents left unaccounted for too so we might not be done quite yet.
The ol’ Flying Kiwis Transfer Tracker in our Substack email was never short of yarns to discuss. These are the dawning days of a golden generation after all, thus it’s only fitting that the window SLAMMED shut with two of the guys most symbolic with these changing times of kiwi footballers being sold for significant fees... each sneaking in just under the buzzer. Liberato Cacace to Empoli. Joe Bell to Brøndby.
Initially these yarns were gonna be a part of the normal Flying Kiwis roundup on a Tuesday but dammit even with the All Whites away on tour there was still so much going on that the write-up was reaching Tolstoy levels of character quantity. So it’s been split in two with Cacace and Bell getting their own deadline day special. Get amongst.
Liberato Cacace – Empoli (Italian Serie A)
Yeah, that’ll do it. That’ll do it alright. Liberato Cacace signing with a Serie A club? It was destiny, it was fate, it was written in the stars. Confirmed by Empoli about twenty minutes after the incoming transfer deadline in Italy passed... though that’s not a problem as long as the paperwork process had begun before the cut-off time. Takes twenty mins to whip up a mint photoshop of the bloke in an Empoli-blue jersey anyway.
Libby Cacace joins Empoli on an initial loan with an option to buy at the end of the season, subject to unnamed conditions - probably talking about a certain number of matches played or something like that, plus it’ll be contingent on them not getting relegated too (which they shouldn’t be). Reports elsewhere have suggested a €3m fee if the permanent deal goes through with a three-year contract awaiting him in that event though the club themselves weren’t prepared to be so specific just yet.
He didn’t end up at Juventus after they tried to sign him for their U23s a year back (at least not yet). This also means that Torino weren’t able to make a deal happen after it was rumoured two months ago – that would’ve meant a link up with All Whites teammate Matt Garbett who is in their primavera side. But Empoli are a club of a similar stature so no worries there. Currently sitting twelfth on the table with 29 points from 23 matches, 12 clear of the drop zone. However they are on a six game streak without a league win, dating back to mid-December when they beat Napoli 1-0. Napoli, of course, are Cacace’s boyhood/family club and the eventual dream move. Whether that ever happens or not, he’s one massive step closer with this transfer... with the opportunity to play against the Neapolitans on Anzac Day of all days. His Aotearoa x Italian heritage combining gorgeously there.
Empoli have spent the last couple of decades bouncing between Serie A and Serie B. They were promoted in first place last season and seem to have established themselves nicely back in the top flight under the management of Aurelio Andreazzoli – probably best known as an assistant and caretaker at Roma, this is his third stint as permanent boss of Empoli. It’s largely a locally based squad yet they do have Scottish midfielder Liam Henderson as well as a few Slovenians and Albanian internationals in the group. Andrea Pinamonti is their top scorer to date with four goals, he’s on loan from Inter Milan. Theirs also has the third youngest average age of any squad in Serie A this season.
23 year old Riccardo Marchizza (on loan from Sassuolo) started their most recent game at left back in a 4-3-2-1 formation however Marchizza is probably more of a left-sided central defender by trade. Fabiano Parisi has also played there, a specialist LB option, though he’s the same age as Cacace. Definitely a case for bringing in a new left-sided fullback so gotta hope this means some rapid integration for LC.
If/when he does make his debut for the club, he’ll become the first bloke from Aotearoa to play in Serie A. Niko Kirwan has gotten as high as Serie B, playing 27 times for Reggiana last season, while Liam Graham made one appearance for 13 minutes for Ascoli Calcio a couple years earlier. Plus there is Matt Garbett in Torino’s youth team working closer and closer towards a senior appearance (at least according to Danny Hay’s recent accounts).
All of which makes it easy to overlook that Cacace played twice for STVV this week. His final two appearance for the club even if by that stage it had begun to look like he’d probably be staying until at least the summer. You never know what chats were going on away from public consumption, to be fair. Libby bid (an unaware?) farewell to Sint Truiden with a full game in a 1-1 draw away to Antwerp before being subbed off at half-time of a 1-0 defeat to Charleroi at home. He leaves them five points clear of the relegation playoff sitting in eleventh out of 18 teams on the ladder. 50 Pro League appearances for STVV. No goals but 2 assists and 7 yellow cards. He also played one cup match for the Canaries too.
But now it’s arrivederci STVV and ciao Empoli.
Up Next: Monday at 3am, Bologna vs Empoli, is the first opportunity for him to debut (NZT)
Joe Bell – Brøndby IF (Danish Superliga)
They held on right up until the very last possible moment but Viking finally relented in their Joe Bell negotiations. The saga began at the start of the month with Bell rejecting the offer of a new contract. Then in came old mates Barnsley again with a gentle bid that was never likely to be accepted. Further interest no doubt swarmed below the surface but the only rumours that emerged were vague references to unnamed Belgian and Russian clubs... until Danish side Brøndby popped up with a bid on Deadline Day.
Brøndby’s bid was firmly rejected by Viking, who were clearly prepared to lose Bellinho on a free transfer in a year’s time if it came to that. They told Brøndby to pick up thine offer and begone. Reports out of Norway then suggested that Brøndby would not be submitting a second bid as there was simply too much difference between what they were willing to offer and what Viking were willing to accept... but within an hour or two there were Danish reports that Viking had relented and that personal terms were already sorted.
Gotta remember that, on these occasions, the media is hardly the bastion for truth and honesty... both these clubs plus Bell’s agent will have been haggling through those media avenues as well as via the direct links. Like, if you leak that Brøndby have no hope of making a deal and then Brøndby still come back for more, well now you’ve learned that they’re keener than perhaps they were letting on. It’s tactical negotiation. Use whatever leverage you can find and amplify it.
Which is how it happened that at some time after 3am in the United Arab Emirates, where Bell is away on international duty with the All Whites and hopefully getting some sleep ahead of a game against Uzbekistan later that day, he was announced as a new Brøndby IF player on a four year contract.
BIF football director Carsten V. Jensen: “First of all, we are really happy that we managed to get Joe Bell signed here in the last hours of the window. We have been following Joe for a while and what we have seen is a very hardworking midfielder with a great work ethic and eye for the game who knows not only how to win possession but also distributes the ball wisely forward in the field. In addition, Joe always gives a great effort on the field and, like Henrik Heggheim, who also switched to us from Viking FK, he is a player who takes a lot of responsibility on the field, not only for himself, but for the whole team. We are therefore pleased that Joe is now part of Brøndby IF.”
Joe Bell: “Brøndby IF is an incredibly exciting opportunity for me and after a couple of years in Viking FK, I feel ready to take the next step. I have learned a lot in my time in Viking FK and would like to thank everyone in the club for my time in the club. As a player, I am the type who prefers to play the ball fast and forward in the field, and I can take the temperature of a match and thus turn the tempo up or down depending on what we want. Coming to Brøndby IF is a huge thing for me as this club has the whole package: the history, the fans, and a style of play that suits me. I have talked to my former teammate Henrik Heggheim about the club. He loves it here and has told me about how professional a team is about the team and that there are good opportunities to develop. So for me it was an easy decision and I look forward to bumping into my teammates at training camp in Portugal later this week.”
There ya go. As Bellinho himself says, the club are in training camp in Portugal at the moment during their winter break and he’ll link up with them as soon as he’s done with the national team.
It’s not quite Juventus or Barcelona or Bayern Munich but don’t trick yourself into thinking that this isn’t a big step forward in Bell’s career. Brøndby are defending champs of Denmark. They’re unfortunately already out of European competition having been bounced in Champions League qualifying and also failed to progress through their Europa League group... but this is a club that has only missed out of European qualification twice this millennium. The catch being that they have a habit of quickly dipping out once they get there. A bit of an Almost-Team. Despite regular top four finishes, last season was their first league title since 2004-05 and they will be hoping that Joe Bell helps take them past merely qualifying to actually starting to progress in those Euro competitions.
Brøndby are currently third in the Superliga after 17 matches. Only five more games until they split into the championship rounds, with Midtjylland five points ahead of them in first. Hence there’s not much room for easing in – this is a team who need immediate results and after a month or so their fixtures will exclusively be against the other top teams in the land. Having said that, their form is superb. Went winless in their first six matches of this title defence but hit up the winter break on a six-game winning streak that has surged them back into contention. Top two enter the Champions League qualifying stages. This is what Joe Bell is walking into.
By the way, Midtjylland is notable for being the club that Winston Reid got his start at. Second-placed FC København happens to have Marko Stamenic on their books (more on him later). In fact if Stamenic cracks into that team next season then that could get frisky on All Whites duty as Brøndby and København are pretty fierce rivals – that’s the Copenhagen Derby right there. Also there’s a pretty high chance that FC Helsingør are going to be promoted into the Superliga next season bringing Callum McCowatt and Eli Just along with them. Other than Marko Stamenic’s lone Superliga match to date, there was also a recent kiwi presence here when Marco Rojas featured for SønderjyskE. Party in Denmark, lessssgo.
Sadly, this does mean we have to say farewell to the fine folk of Viking FK. Such a fun team to jump on the bandwagon for while Bellinho was there. If only they’d been able to hold him hostage at the team facilities the way they were able to do for top scorer Veton Berisha... but alas Bell was away on international duty at the time.
Joe Bell leaves Viking FK after 58 appearances during which he scored 3 goals and had 11 assists. He was a key player as they earned their best Elitserien finish for 14 years and he leaves as a fan favourite despite his relatively short stint there. It was real. Now we’re on a new journey. Peace.
Up Next: There’ll be a few friendlies in Portugal and then the first proper game back will be away to Nordsjælland on 21 Feb at 4am (NZT)
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