Marked for Maxwel Cornet
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Manchester United have kept their man, and West Ham United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets10 Jan 2028
$11.3M was the most the club would pay and Southampton were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Market10 Jan 2028
The chase for Femi Azeez ended with $7.4M changing hands and Millwall out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
Market10 Jan 2028
Maxwel Cornet hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what West Ham United can pretend not to have heard.
Market10 Jan 2028
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings10 Jan 2028
At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 7.97, and nobody on the pitch better.
The dugout10 Jan 2028
Luca Connell: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” West Ham United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom10 Jan 2028
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $12.5M — a club that wants Finn Azaz enough to be asked twice.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match11 Dec 2027
16 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Match8 Dec 2027
Birmingham are out and West Ham United go through, 1‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Squad13 Dec 2027
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Market13 Dec 2027
Maxwel Cornet hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what West Ham United can pretend not to have heard.
Market13 Dec 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at West Ham United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Player ratings13 Dec 2027
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.84 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Solly March and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Chukwuemeka Obi is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 18 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Match11 Dec 2027
9 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Aug 2027
A fracture rules Edson Álvarez out for 65 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason West Ham United will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market9 Aug 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what West Ham United can pretend not to have heard.
Market9 Aug 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around West Ham United people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Mike Trésor and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
The offer went to Brighton this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Liverpool have kept their man, and West Ham United go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Loan watch9 Aug 2027
“I watch every West Ham United game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Coventry City runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Market9 Aug 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Micky van de Ven’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Micky van de Ven has been around long enough to know what the spring feels like when it goes wrong, and he can feel it. A dressing room that is frightened plays like one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Jun 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Genoa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market21 Jun 2027
Genoa say no — this time
The offer from AS Roma for Lorenzo Colombo was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hellas Verona have kept their man, and Genoa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market21 Jun 2027
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market21 Jun 2027
Atalanta pay $5.7M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad21 Jun 2027
The medical room confirms 34 days on the sidelines for Djibril Sow, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Boardroom21 Jun 2027
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $290.0K — a club that wants Ebrima Darboe enough to be asked twice.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Genoa
Johan Felipe Vásquez and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market14 Jun 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Genoa have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. AS Roma have kept their man, and Genoa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market14 Jun 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Genoa, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market14 Jun 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market14 Jun 2027
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Genoa heard it as anything else.
Squad14 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Genoa
Justin Bijlow and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Ianis Dobrescu is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Squad14 Jun 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alex Amorim and Genoa agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad14 Jun 2027
The ambition story running backwards, and the one nobody tells: a footballer who wants a smaller ground, fewer cameras and a crowd that does not turn. It is not weakness and it is rarely reported as anything else.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 May 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Genoa can pretend not to have heard.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Junior Messias, 36, rolls back the years — 7.85
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.85 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Market10 May 2027
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Morten Frendrup wants continental football; whether Genoa can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad10 May 2027
Leo Østigård in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Genoa this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match8 May 2027
Three points for Genoa, 1‑0 the final word against Frosinone in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Squad10 May 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Genoa know it.
The dugout10 May 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Roberto Milani, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Player ratings10 May 2027
15 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad29 Mar 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Francesco Bellone
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Genoa lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad29 Mar 2027
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Genoa
Samuele di Benedetto and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Sebastian Otoa
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Market29 Mar 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Genoa know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
Maxwel Cornet gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Maxwel Cornet is on it.
Looking ahead29 Mar 2027
Juventus next, and one man in the Genoa dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Loan watch29 Mar 2027
13 appearances away from home and 4 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Loan watch29 Mar 2027
27 appearances at Pergolettese and the goals keep coming. Genoa are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match6 Feb 2027
Fiorentina left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Justin Bijlow
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Roberto Milani left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The terraces8 Feb 2027
Everybody has an opinion about Justin Bijlow
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A booking nobody needed, on a night the game was already won. Genoa lose a player for the most avoidable reason there is.
Market8 Feb 2027
At 36, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.
Market8 Feb 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Justin Bijlow’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match9 Dec 2026
Genoa bow out of the cup
Modena go through and Genoa go home, 1‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Nicola Leali is the hero from the spot
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Nicola Leali: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Marked 7.97 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Market14 Dec 2026
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The terraces14 Dec 2026
He is 19 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Twelve yards and the whole ground holding its breath, and it did not go in. He will put his name down for the next one, which is the only thing to do.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match4 Nov 2026
Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Giacomo Olzer obliged against Vis Pesaro. 1‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Genoa.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 30. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Market9 Nov 2026
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Lorenzo Colombo wants continental football; whether Genoa can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Genoa
Justin Bijlow and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match7 Nov 2026
A bad afternoon for Genoa against Napoli
0‑1 to Napoli, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Marked 8.11 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad9 Nov 2026
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 4 in, 2 out at Genoa
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 4 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Market7 Sep 2026
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Genoa heard it as anything else.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Genoa asked and Bologna said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Udinese wanted more than $100.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Market7 Sep 2026
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Genoa will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Milutin Osmajić has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Squad7 Sep 2026
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Market7 Sep 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lorenzo Colombo signs something — a contract at Genoa or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.