Wrexham is reportedly set to work out a club record compensation for an international player who was lucky to prevent punishment after a heavy challenge on an English star
Allegedly, Wrexham will break their transfer record to sign a player who was involved in a controversial collision with England star Kyle Walker. The Welsh side, supported by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mcelhenney, would have agreed a deal for Empoli Left-back Liberato Cacace for an initial £ 2.16 million (€ 2.5 million), with the fee that is expected to be taken into account as a bonus and add-es.
The New Zealandse International has played in Serie A for the past three and a half years since he was first on loan from the Belgian team Sint-Truiden in January 2022. Empoli was banned from the Italian top layer at the end of last season, but Cacace is linked to various clubs at that level.
According to Sky Sport Italia, however, Wrexham won the fight to secure his services after their recent promotion to the championship. If confirmed, it would surpass the £ 2 million, the Red Dragons pronounced to acquire reading striker Sam Smith in January.
Details of the potential transfer have emerged in the same week Wrexham will play Cacace's former Wellington Phoenix team in a pre-season friendly in his hometown. The deal would be seen as a coup for the club while preparing for life in the second layer, but the career of the 24-year-old has seen various controversies.
The collision of Cacace with Walker took place when Empoli suffered a 2-0 home defeat against AC Milan in February. Walker stood in line for Milan after he got on loan at Manchester City in January.
The Empoli defender was lucky to prevent him from being sent away after he had spoken a heavy challenge on Walker, making him wriggling with pain in the field. Despite a VAR check, Cacace in one way or another managed to completely escape the punishment, to the great astonishment of those who look.
He also succeeded in getting angry Colombia fans in June 2019 after New Zealand lost to the South American team in the FIFA Under-20 World Cup. The Instagram account of Cacace was skipped with hundreds of insults and threats while he was the keeper of Colombia to be able to scoring in a penalty shootout who later lost his side.
According to things in Nieuw -Zeelandse News site, a Colombian fan posted: “Wipe your tears and go home with your mouth shut!” In the meantime, Cacace was sent away after a match against Tunisia in the Acud Cup International Tournament in Egypt in March 2024.
He was shown a red card after he came into an exchange with Tunisia's Elias Achouri. All Whites coach Darren Bazeley described the broadcast as unfair after the game.
“I think it's hard,” he said. “The referee sent their player off. They were pretty competitive people, and Libby said 'bye bye'.
Although he is involved in some fiery incidents, Cacace also has a number of impressive performance under his belt. In 2024 he was nominated for admission to FIFA Best Men's XI in a list of the world's greatest defenders.
He could be seen next to the will of Real Madrid star Dani Carvajal, the new Liverpool -Rekruut Jeremie Frimpong and German international Antonio Rudiger. Cacace admitted that he felt surprised to discover his recording on the shortlist.
Speaking with Fifa.com he said: “I went to bed early that night and when I woke up the next morning, I saw that I was tagged on Instagram in various messages. I was convinced that it had to be photographed or it was a kind of joke.
“I clicked on the post more out of curiosity than something else, and I quickly realized that it was real. I had to ask my friends and my agent for confirmation. I told myself:” How is this possible? “
“It is a huge privilege for me to be nominated in addition to some of the best players in the world. I am sure that all other world securitymers who saw my name on the list thought:” And who is this cacace? “