Genoa U20

22 Nov 2026
Sunday
Process
16 Edition

The Genoa Post

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Tommaso Baldanzi

Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Morten Frendrup 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.

Match

Genoa find a way past Cremonese

Cremonese made Genoa work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

One of those days for Hamed Traoré

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.14, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

International break empties Genoa

5 call-ups is a compliment to the squad and a headache for the man running it. He will get them back in a fortnight, tired, in various states of repair.

Loan watch

Rendijs Mihelsons counts the days

“I watch every Genoa game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Hellas Verona runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Stephan El Shaarawy

The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Vitinha

“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 dugout

Sandro Grassi has his say

“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Sandro Grassi on a 1‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.

In brief

Back issues
15 Edition

The Genoa Post

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Cup progress for Genoa

A 4‑0 win over Novara, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?

Squad

A day Franz-Ethan Meichtry will not forget

3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.

Player ratings

Nils Zätterström, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 8.22

A mark of 8.22 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Junior Messias yet — 8.03

At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.03 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

The dugout

Richie Sagrado keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Genoa may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Borys Skraburski out for 50 days

The medical room confirms 50 days on the sidelines for Borys Skraburski, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Squad

Tempers go at Genoa

Morten Frendrup was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Richie Sagrado runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

Justin Bijlow wants to know where this is going

“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Genoa hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.

In brief

14 Edition

The Genoa Post

2 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Morten Frendrup wants more than Genoa are offering

“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.

Market

Leo Østigård wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Match

Genoa refuse to lose to Juventus

A point taken on 96 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.

Player ratings

Mikael Egill Ellertsson was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 15. 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.

Squad

Alex Amorim makes the team of the month

Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.

Match

Genoa share the spoils with Juventus

A 1‑1 draw with Juventus leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

The dugout

Léo Bonatini dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

The dugout

Sandro Grassi on the point

“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Sandro Grassi after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.

Market

The Morten Frendrup question follows Genoa around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Morten Frendrup’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

13 Edition

The Genoa Post

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Genoa may not be able to give Morten Frendrup what he wants

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Genoa

Morten Frendrup and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Genoa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stephan El Shaarawy is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

Mikael Egill Ellertsson runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Lecce take the points off Genoa

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

The dugout

Morten Frendrup is still paying for one afternoon at Genoa

Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.

Squad

Too much change too quickly at Genoa

17 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.

The dugout

Sandro Grassi faces the questions

“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Sandro Grassi after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.

The dugout

Genoa pick somebody else ahead of Léo Bonatini

There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.

In brief

12 Edition

The Genoa Post

19 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Words exchanged at Genoa

Alessandro Buongiorno 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.

Player ratings

Hamed Traoré beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 21. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

The dugout

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.

Player ratings

Alessandro Buongiorno shuts the door

Defensive actions: 15, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

The dugout

Half-satisfied: Sandro Grassi on the draw

“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Stefano Sabelli

The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.

Match

Genoa draw a blank against Parma

The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Parma defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.

Looking ahead

Lorenzo Colombo goes back to face Lecce

Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Lorenzo Colombo’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Genoa needing him to play as if none of it matters.

Squad

Sebastian Otoa wants out of the dugout

“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Genoa will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.

In brief

11 Edition

The Genoa Post

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Seid Korać: 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.” Genoa have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

A falling-out at Genoa

Alessandro Buongiorno and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Genoa end the wait against Udinese

It had gone 7 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.

Match

Hamed Traoré sends Genoa past Udinese

It finished 2‑0, and it was Hamed Traoré’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Genoa.

Player ratings

Lorenzo Colombo in the eights

A performance of 8.55 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Hamed Traoré at his very best

Marked 8.29. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Genoa.

Loan watch

Rendijs Mihelsons counts the days

“I watch every Genoa game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Hellas Verona runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Squad

4 Genoa players away with their countries

The training ground goes quiet for a fortnight. 4 men have gone off to be somebody else’s players, and the manager is left with the ones nobody has called.

The dugout

A satisfied Sandro Grassi

“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Sandro Grassi could afford to be generous.

In brief

10 Edition

The Genoa Post

5 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The wait goes on for Genoa

7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

Words exchanged at Genoa

Morten Frendrup 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.

Squad

Words at Genoa training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Stephan El Shaarawy is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Mikael Egill Ellertsson at his very best

Marked 8.34. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Genoa.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Robinho Junior

Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Mikael Egill Ellertsson rescues a point for Genoa

It needed Mikael Egill Ellertsson to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Pisa, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

Boardroom

Genoa counting the cost

The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Genoa now.

The dugout

Sandro Grassi: “We have to be better”

“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 dugout

Adam Žulevič gets it from the manager

“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.

In brief

9 Edition

The Genoa Post

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Genoa

6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

A falling-out at Genoa

Morten Frendrup and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Adam Žulevič is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 19 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.

The dugout

Stephan El Shaarawy gets it from the manager

“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.

Match

AS Roma take the points off Genoa

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Genoa are still strangers to each other

17 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Sandro Grassi to a room that had heard them before.

The dugout

The form table has caught Hamed Traoré

Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.

The dugout

Djibril Sow knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Djibril Sow trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

8 Edition

The Genoa Post

21 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

5 matches without a win for Genoa

The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Genoa are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Morten Frendrup 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.

The dugout

No hiding place for Justin Bijlow

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Justin Bijlow, and the manager let it.

The dugout

Somebody else is better right now than Stephan El Shaarawy

The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.

The dugout

Stephan El Shaarawy knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Stephan El Shaarawy trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Match

Genoa share the spoils with Bologna

A 1‑1 draw with Bologna leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

The dugout

Half-satisfied: Sandro Grassi on the draw

“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.

Player ratings

Lorenzo Colombo beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 13. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Market

The Lorenzo Colombo talk will not go away

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.

In brief

7 Edition

The Genoa Post

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Nowhere to hide for Genoa

0‑3 against Como, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.

Squad

8 saves: Fernando Hernández was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Market

Morten Frendrup’s move to AS Roma falls through

The deal that would have taken Morten Frendrup to AS Roma has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Genoa with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro rejects the move

Genoa had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Hellas Verona, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Match

4 matches without a win for Genoa

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Genoa are no longer polite ones.

The dugout

Alessandro Buongiorno gets it from the manager

“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.

Boardroom

Doors closed at Genoa

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

Loan watch

Rendijs Mihelsons wants to come home

“I did not go to Hellas Verona to sit and watch. I want to come back to Genoa and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 5 matches say the rest.

The dugout

Sandro Grassi: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

In brief

6 Edition

The Genoa Post

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

Deadline passes with 7 signed and 5 gone

That is the business done at Genoa until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.

Transfer targets

The paperwork begins on Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro

A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Genoa have done the hard part with Hellas Verona, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.

Squad

Words exchanged at Genoa

Morten Frendrup 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.

Market

Leo Østigård raises the bar for Genoa

“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.

Market

The Morten Frendrup conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: AS Roma will make the call about Morten Frendrup this week. Genoa have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

Match

Late, late show earns Genoa a point

Minute 87, against Fiorentina, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.

Squad

Djibril Sow is no longer first choice

The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Djibril Sow 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.

Squad

International break empties Genoa

5 call-ups is a compliment to the squad and a headache for the man running it. He will get them back in a fortnight, tired, in various states of repair.

Squad

Fernando Hernández signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Fernando Hernández commits to Genoa for another 3 years.

In brief

5 Edition

The Genoa Post

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Alex Amorim, 21, steals the show — 7.71

Marked 7.71 at 21, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.

Market

Nicola Leali moves on

Juventus pay $1.9M, 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Genoa

Alessandro Buongiorno was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Transfer targets

Hellas Verona tell Genoa: Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Match

Inter take the points off Genoa

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Alessandro Buongiorno is a square peg at Genoa

The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.

Squad

14 new faces, and Genoa are still learning each other

A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.

The dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Sandro Grassi to a room that had heard them before.

The dugout

Djibril Sow dropped after a run of poor form

The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.

In brief

4 Edition

The Genoa Post

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Genoa get their man

The chase for Alessandro Buongiorno ended with $37.6M changing hands and Napoli out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.

Transfer targets

Genoa rebuffed over Charles De Ketelaere

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Atalanta have kept their man, and Genoa go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Squad

Words exchanged at Genoa

Alessandro Buongiorno 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.

Boardroom

1 academy players handed senior numbers at Genoa

The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.

The terraces

$37.6M for Alessandro Buongiorno, and Genoa supporters approve

Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Alessandro Buongiorno from Napoli for $37.6M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.

Match

Lazio take the points off Genoa

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Market

Riccardo Peretti steps up from the Genoa academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Riccardo Peretti has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

The dugout

Justin Bijlow gets it from the manager

“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.

Boardroom

The ground is getting bigger

The plans are signed off at a capacity of 43250. Decisions like this are judged twenty years later, by people who were not in the room when they were taken.

In brief

3 Edition

The Genoa Post

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Transfer targets

An offer of $37.6M for Alessandro Buongiorno

Genoa have gone to Napoli with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.

Transfer targets

No deal for Pierre Kalulu at that price

Genoa offered $35.8M; Juventus said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.

Transfer targets

An offer of $26.6M for Marco Carnesecchi

Genoa have gone to Atalanta with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.

Transfer targets

Marcel Ruiz will not be coming to Genoa

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Toluca is saying, and nobody at Genoa is enjoying the guessing.

Market

Genoa turn down Udinese for Lorenzo Colombo

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Djibril Sow stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Djibril Sow and Genoa agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Tempers go at Genoa

Morten Frendrup was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Market

The Morten Frendrup talk will not go away

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.

Squad

Djibril Sow has seen what the next man earns

Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Genoa that is a harder question to answer.

In brief

2 Edition

The Genoa Post

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Transfer targets

Genoa make their move for Pierre Kalulu

$35.8M on the table at Juventus. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Squad

Morten Frendrup signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Morten Frendrup and Genoa agree another 5 years.

Squad

A falling-out at Genoa

Morten Frendrup and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Market

Justin Bijlow wants more than Genoa are offering

“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.

The dugout

Morten Frendrup knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Genoa, and both men came out saying it was fine.

Market

Nobody at Genoa has picked up the phone to Milutin Osmajić

48 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.

In brief

1 Edition

The Genoa Post

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Morten Frendrup raises the bar for Genoa

“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.

Squad

Stephan El Shaarawy stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Stephan El Shaarawy and Genoa agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Words exchanged at Genoa

Morten Frendrup 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 targets

Genoa rebuffed over Tobias Slotsager

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.

Market

The clock runs on Stephan El Shaarawy's contract

24 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.

Squad

9 new faces, and Genoa are still learning each other

A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.

The dugout

Morten Frendrup knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Morten Frendrup trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

Talks stall between Genoa and Stefano Sabelli

“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.

Squad

Djibril Sow walks taller at Genoa

His past walked in ahead of him. Players who have been where he has been get a hearing in a dressing room before they have earned one, and he has it for as long as his form does.

In brief

  • The terraces Everybody has an opinion about Léo Bonatini
  • Market Genoa shop where it costs nothing