The list of suitors for Albert Gudmundsson is growing, as he continues to be Genoa’s most sought-after and sought-after player. The Icelander, already in the sights of Tottenham and West Ham in the Premier League, of some Arab clubs and in Italy of Inter, Napoli and Roma, has now also seen the interest of Lazio. Claudio Lotito’s club, very active in this initial phase of the market, has reportedly tried to put on the table an offer of 20 million euros plus the registration of the young striker Cancellieri. A far cry from the 40 million in cash requested by Genoa, which had already rejected 30 million from Fiorentina last January.
Of course, whatever Gudmundsson’s future, the auction that is unleashed can only do good to the Grifone’s coffers considering that the player was paid just 2 million euros. The now almost completed transfer of Martinez to Inter, 13.5 plus 2 million in bonuses, which forces the rossoblù to look for a new goalkeeper, will serve to finance part of a summer campaign that in reality began well in advance.
In the last five months, in fact, the club has redeemed 5 players Thorsby, De Winter, Messias, Bohinen and Malinovskyi, who were recently joined by Vitinha. Operations that in total have meant and will mean depending on the payment formulas, an outlay of 24 million plus the 16 with bonuses for Vitinha. Operations that have transformed many loans into players definitively owned by the club which now however must return both for the parameters of the liquidity index and to close the market session that has just begun in positive terms as foreseen by the agreement reached in court with the revenue agency on the reduction of the debt.
Expensive moves, therefore, but which allow the rossoblù to actually show up at the start of the new season next Monday at the Signorini with an almost complete team. And the few pieces that are missing, goalkeeper, right back and midfielder, plus a possible replacement for whoever should be sold, are being sought calmly. From Kotarski, Croatian goalkeeper of Paok, an element that is liked and in which the club is ready to invest, to a player like Terracciano who instead, given his age, should be considered a player almost “in transit” waiting to find the right goalkeeper and therefore in which to invest the minimum necessary.
Especially since there is no shortage of sirens from Serie B for the second rossoblù goalkeeper Leali, who has ended up in Bari’s sights. The three players on loan have already said goodbye: Spence, who Genoa still likes but whose request from Tottenham is considered too high, Cittadini and Haps, as well as Strootman who did not renew after finishing the season. Among the many players returning from various loans, Buksa was sold to Poland to Gornik Zabrze on a permanent basis and yesterday the Primavera striker born in 2004 Yoan Bornosuzov also said goodbye, who after five years in Genoa’s youth sector was sold to CSKA Sofia with a percentage of the future resale. Among the minor operations to be highlighted are the loans to Pontedera, which has as coach for the next championship the former coach of the rossoblù youth team Agostini, of Gagliardi, of the goalkeeper Simone Calvani and of the full-back Scarpa while the other full-back Scaravilli was sold permanently to Giugliano in Serie C with Genoa who inserted in the formula of the agreement a percentage in their favor in the event of the player being resold.
But yesterday was also the day of farewell for Carlo Taldo, sporting director of the Primavera, who the club greeted with a message on social media: “The Club thanks Carlo Taldo for the work carried out in these years with passion, dedication and competence, wishing him the best successes for his personal future and for the continuation of his professional career”.
Tomorrow will be a big day for fans: in the afternoon the season ticket campaign for the 2024/25 championship will be launched. There will be, as already announced, a small increase but there will be no shortage of special promotions dedicated to fans.
