Genoa CFC: The Selling Club

Genoa CFC: The Selling Club

 Genoa CFC are the oldest club in Italy and the 4th most successful club with 9 Serie A Titles (albeit the last one being in 1924), but they have a real problem keeping hold of their quality players. This in part may be down to President Preziosi wanting to keep relations with his peers, but sometimes his motives are to the detriment of the football club. Also, Preziosi has been around a scandal or two during his tenure. Rumours have been circulating (once again), that Preziosi is actively looking to sell the club, although he saved Genoa from bankruptcy back in 2003, it might be time for someone with new ideas to take the club forward.

Last night, Giovanni ‘Cholito’ Simeone said his goodbyes to the Rossoblù as he starts his new adventure with Fiorentina for a fee in the region of €15.

Simeone is not the first hot talent to leave Genoa, nor will he be the last, I take a look at some of the players who have moved away from Liguria, since they re-established themselves into the Elite of Serie A, back in 2007-08...

Goalkeepers: Genoa went through keepers at a rate of 1 every 1-2 seasons not so long ago, but thankfully Mattia Perin has established himself as Genoa's number 1 for 3 seasons now (barring his 2 ACL injuries). Prior to Perin, Genoa had some reasonable keepers like Rubinho (Palermo), Marco Amelia (AC Milan) & Sebastien Frey (Bursaspor).

Defenders: Genoa had one of the best defences in Serie A less than 10 years ago, with players like Domenico Criscito (Zenit) owning the left wing back slot, covered at left centre back by Salvatore Bocchetti (Rubin Kazan), both of these 2 players winning Russian Premier League titles, Criscito 2 with Zenit & Bocchetti with Spartak Moscow earlier this year. Sokratis Papastathopoulos (AC Milan) was utilised as a CB or RWB moved in 2011 along with Andrea Ranocchia (Inter) who left in the January transfer window prior. Rafinha (Bayern Munich) moved in the summer of 2012 for €8m, one year after joining from Schalke for €5.5m, but at least he scored that wonderful goal in the Derby della Lanterna in front of the Gradinata Nord. One player to never play a game for, but be owned by Genoa was Leonardo Bonucci (Bari). Bonucci joined as part of the Milito/Motta deal from Inter, was then loaned out to Bari, then moved on to Juventus directly from Bari. Sime Vrsaljko (Sassuolo) & Cristian Ansaldi (Inter) both left strong seasons in Liguria.

Midfielders: Thiago Motta (Inter Milan) joined on a free transfer from Atletico Madrid after an injury stricken career at both Barcelona & Atletico Madrid. Motta became a powerful midfielder, breaking up so much play and starting attacks in the middle of the park, before moving on to Inter Milan with Diego Milito, where they would win a Serie A, Coppa Italia & Champions League treble. Motta then moved to PSG where he continues to win further titles. Stefano Sturaro, Rolando Mandragora & Tomas Rincon (all Juventus). Sturaro only played 1 full season at Genoa, the 1^st half as a Genoa player, the 2^nd half as a Juventus loanee, having been snapped up by Juventus in the January transfer window. Mandragora, another young talent  to be poached by Juventus, captained Italy U20 to a 3rd placed finish in this summer's U20 World Cup and will spend this season on loan at Crotone, gaining vital Serie A experience. The 3rd central midfielder to swap Genoa for Juventus was Rincon, who after 2 and a half seasons at Genoa, moved to Juventus in January, where he gained a Serie A winners medal.

Forwards: The only way to begin this section is with il Principe himself, Diego Milito (Inter Milan). Milito had 2 successful spells at Genoa, leaving for Zaragoza when Genoa were relegated to Serie C1 due to alleged match fixing. il Principe was re-signed to Genoa on deadline day in 2008 and was instrumental in Genoa’s slight resurgence, narrowly missing out on Champions League football in 2008-09, losing 4^th place to Fiorentina on head to head (3-3 and 0-1). Milito finished 1 goal behind Ibrahimovic (25) for Capocannoniere on 24 goals, alongside Genoa loanee, Marco Di Vaio. Ciro Immobile (Torino) didn’t have the greatest time at Genoa, only scoring 5 goals in 33 games. He then went on to have a fairly successful Euro U21, helping Italy to the final. Immobile moved to Torino a year later, scoring 22 in 33, before a torrid time in Germany and then Spain, luckily for Italy, he’s back in Serie A scoring again. Stephen El-Shaarawy (AC Milan) made his Serie A debut at only 16 years and 55 days, but only made 3 appearances for Genoa before moving to AC Milan for €15.5m. Rodrigo Palacio (Inter Milan) spent 3 very successful seasons at Genoa, scoring 19 League goals in his last season, before getting snapped up by the Nerazzurri. Diego Perotti (AS Roma) was another real bargain, snapped up for €350k from Sevilla, he spent less than 2 seasons at Genoa, before moving to Roma for  €9m. Perotti scored a 90th minute winner vs Genoa (3-2) in Gameweek 38 of last season to give Roma 2nd place and automatic Champions League qualification ahead of Napoli.

Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini (Inter Milan), what a man, Gasperini made Genoa not only exciting to watch, but achieved so much, guiding Genoa to a 5th placed finish in Serie A in 2008-09. Gasperini's 5-4-1 in defence and 3-4-3 in attack was ahead of it's time, Gasperini is still maintaining his success with this same style at Atalanta, we will forget his time at Inter, where he was not given the same chances he was in Liguria or Bergamo.
 

Note: The team in brackets is who the player moved to from Genoa.