Semih Kılıçsoy

Key strength: Link-up play

Target man

Hovering in the relegation zone at 17th place, Cagliari Calcio are scrapping for Serie A survival—and their €10 million talisman is a 20-year-old Turkish striker still learning his trade. Semih Kılıçsoy carries the weight of a club desperate for goals, yet his numbers tell a story of efficiency rather than volume: 4 goals from just 1,117 minutes across 26 appearances, translating to a goal every 279 minutes. It's a modest return, but for a squad battling at the bottom, each strike is precious gold. Kılıçsoy compensates for modest pace (55) and physicality (45) with intelligent movement and composed finishing—traits that have made him Cagliari's most valuable asset. His partnership with creative winger Jakub Kamiński offers a blueprint for survival: technical interplay over brute force. As Cagliari ride a promising WWLDW run, Kılıçsoy embodies both immediate necessity and long-term hope—a young forward learning to outthink Italy's grizzled defenders rather than outmuscle them. In a relegation scrap, that footballing IQ might just prove the difference between salvation and the drop.