The transfer saga surrounding Agim Ibraimi is finally settled with the attacker agreeing to continue his career for Serie A side Cagliari.
The transfer is done as Agim Ibraimi will move to Cagliari in exchange for Pablo Ceppelini and money, believed to be in the region of 1.5 million euros. The deal was completed late on Saturday between Maribor and Cagliari. The Italian side had until the end of 31 August on Saturday to bring in Ibraimi, and they managed to reach an agreement with Maribor just in time. As they say, deadlines spur action. At first, Maribor wanted more money from Cagliari, but the Italian club then threw Pablo Ceppelini into the deal, leading Maribor to accept the arrangement.
Ibraimi is being brought to Cagliari as a replacement for Thiago Ribeiro. Cagliari is likely to announce the transfer to the public on Monday. Ibraimi is expected in Macedonia on Monday to begin preparations with the national team for the upcoming qualifiers against Wales and Scotland, but manager Chedomir Janevski might allow Agim to come in a day later to get everything ironed out with Cagliari.
Agim originally joined Maribor in the summer of 2011 as a free agent. After two seasons, he will now move to Italy for a new challenge.
It will be interesting to see how Ibraimi adjusts to the Italian league, known for tough defending and close marking. Agim is a left footed winger who can play on the both the right and left wings. At Maribor, he dominated the ball and that allowed him to flourish. Will that happen at Cagliari with him being a new signing and there being more established players? How will be his off the ball movement? Those will be some important questions in determining whether Agim proves to be a successful signing.
Ibraimi can heed advice from Goran Pandev who has spent over a decade playing in Italy. The time came for Agim to test himself in a tougher league. Ibraimi, who turned 25 in late August, had nothing left to prove in Slovenia where he won the league title, domestic cup and Super Cup.