On 12 February, however, he suffered a knee injury against his former club Brescia that sidelined him for two months. He returned on 12 April, but after just seven days back, was stretched off the field after a bad fall. Magnetic resonance imaging highlighted that Cerci had broken his meniscus and had inflammation to his anterior cruciate ligament. On 26 April 2008, he was operated on in Rome by the same doctor that had operated on Francesco Totti just days before, sidelining him for four months. His first season was ended prematurely with ten goals in 26 appearances, along with seven assists.