Chief Executive Officer since March 2022 Genoa, Andres Blazquez gave a long interview to Football & Finance explaining the Ligurian club’s project. From planning to the transfer market, passing through the medium/long-term economic objective and the stadium issue. Since September 2021, Genoa has been under the control of 777 Partners, the US fund that is trying to create a team network in the style of Football City Group, also owning Hertha Berlin, Standard Liege, Vasco da Gama and – with a minority stake – Sevilla.
“Given their prestige, history, fan base and catchment area, Genoa should always be in the medium/high areas of the table, together with Fiorentina and Torino. This year we haven’t gone far but only the certainty of always being in that area allows you to plan investments even in the medium term without having the nightmare of a relegation to Serie B. And to do this you have to grow in economic terms. It’s true that a historic year like that of Sassuolo can also happen to slip into Serie B, despite the skill of a manager like Giovanni Carnevali”.
Genoa’s economic objectives
“Our goal is the efficiency of economic resources. To aspire to better positions, we need to look at how much the squads of the clubs that participate in European cups cost. We are at a level that is between half and a third of the clubs that take part in the cups, except Bologna who this year did something fantastic. To be able to make a competitive team, we still need to sort out the accounts; if we manage to put together a team with a salary of 40 million euros, we would have a competitive squad for the cups. But to get to that point, we still need a few years.”
“If we manage to bring recurring revenues to 90-95 million euros in the next three years (Genoa currently reaches 75 million euros, excluding capital gains) by creating a sustainable team, we can reach up to 50-55 million in salary For me, making capital gains is not managing but being lucky because one year can go well but it is difficult for a club to find a talent to place on the market to settle the accounts every year.”
On the renovation of Luigi Ferraris
“The facilities in Italy are not at the level of a top championship like Serie A, there are very few stadiums that are at the level of the European ones. Inter and Milan, despite having an old facility, collect millions of euros for each match, while we are on the 300 thousand euros per match. I think that a suitably renovated and refurbished Luigi Ferraris could bring us 700 thousand euros in revenue between ticketing, hospitality and merchandising on match days.”
“In Spain, stadiums are newer and more up-to-date even when the club does not own the facility, as is the case with Betis and Athletic Bilbao. Clubs have developed relationships with the public administration with long-term leases. It is not necessary for a club to own the facility to carry out the work.”
“We believe that the regional body can make a contribution for the Ferraris, if only for a reason of fairness with La Spezia, where it has guaranteed a third of the expenditure for the stadium. Furthermore, the mayor Marco Bucci is in favour of the renovation of the facility because it could be an important urban change for Marassi as a neighbourhood. We have spoken with Sampdoria about the Ferraris and we agree with the project, we want to continue with the renovation of the facility to bring it to the UEFA 4-star category. The sooner we start, the better. We were ready to start a year ago but we had to respect the moment that Sampdoria was going through to do something together. Once the ownership changed, we started working productively. I don’t know if Genoa will be the chosen city in the end but for us it could be a business issue, with additional expenses that we normally wouldn’t have to make but we will face them to try to win the European Championship challenge. Above all for a more modern stadium with more efficient services”.
Genoa’s economic growth plan and the market
“The hope is to reach 80 million euros in recurring revenues as soon as possible. Once fully operational, the ambition is that perhaps already in 2025-26 it will be the first year in which we will be able to aim for European cups. Martinez is now a footballer of Inter, then there are other players that we will sell this summer but mostly they are non-starters. We aim to have a positive impact of 10-12 million euros by managing to invest, as we did with Vitinha, also in anticipation of some. exit”.
“As for the incoming players, we are thinking about a right back. We want to keep Spence but it depends on Tottenham. Something will be done in midfield, while for Retegui the idea is to keep him unless there are huge offers. Obviously, if there is an exit, there will be a new arrival. The objective is to grow in the league table and we want the team to be better than last season. If I wanted to fix the accounts immediately, I would sell the best players and the balance sheet would immediately benefit, but what would Genoa’s future be? Our initiatives are aimed at increasing recurring income precisely so as not to have to finance the market with sales”.
The rumors about the 777 Partners ownership and the sale of the club
“I have no indication from them on a sale of the shares, the indications are to continue to invest and grow the value of the club in the long term. I am now an employee of Genoa and not of 777 Partners, what is happening above our heads sometimes we know it directly from the media. I can say that the relationships are excellent and have not changed in the slightest. The goal is to become more independent from the owners, for example a member of the Genoa board, linked to 777 Partners, has resigned and will come. inserted an independent person who comes from the world of finance”.
“Sometimes you think that in a timeshare there is one team more important than the other, but in our case the group aims to be successful with all the teams in their journey. The steps are more linked to the championships than to the clubs: the Serie A is definitely of a higher level than the Belgian or Portuguese championship.”
THE COMPLETE INTERVIEW WITH BLAZQUEZ ON FOOTBALL AND FINANCE
