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| Preziosi hails project |
Friday 3 July, 2009 |
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Genoa President Enrico Preziosi is proud his club are one of the few in the Italian game to blend youth with experience.
The Rossoblu finished fifth in Serie A last season, winning the neutral vote with their exciting attacking football.
After selling Diego Milito and Thiago Motta to Inter, Genoa have been busy reinforcing their squad ahead of next season.
Experienced pros like Hernan Crespo and Sergio Floccari have joined the club but space has also been made for Serbia Under-21 star Nenad Tomovic and his Montenegrin counterpart Ivan Fatic.
And it's not just young foreigners who are arriving in Genoa either. Robert Acquafresca and Andrea Ranocchi, both Italy Under-21 stars, join the likes of Domenico Criscito and Salvatore Bocchetti.
“We have been doing it for some years and now it becoming everyone's tendency. We will play a lot of them and send many more out on loan to get experience,” Preziosi told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“Acquafresca, Ranocchia and Riccardo Meggiorini [who are currently out on loan] will return to sure up the base.
“Floccari cost me a lot more than I initially paid for Milito. He is our future and there is also Crespo who can give us experience.
“But don't forget the youngsters. Tomovic is a great player. Francesco Bolzoni is very interesting and then you see Fatic.”
Preziosi also took the opportunity to respond to reports linking Genoa with another Serbia Under-21 international, Nemanja Matic.
“He is another player with a great future. We like him, as do Udinese. We will try to get him. We have an objective in Holland. A 21-year-old, but a deal has yet to begin.”
Asked if he was referring to AZ Alkmaar striker Moussa Dembele, Preziosi replied: “At the moment the situation is suspended, but it's not closed.”
Returning to talk about the young prospects within his side, Preziosi said: “Don't forget a talent like Stephen El Shaarawi. Football is going in this direction.
“Real Madrid do certain things, the banks mediate, I think with a five or a 10 year plan. But they will cash £400m, while we'll cash £40m.
“A wave of crisis has hit Italy. If businesses don't make themselves useful no one can invest. There is no liquidity.”
Asked if Italian football is impoverished, Preziosi said: “It's true, but it's necessary [to scale down]. I think the right culture is taking root. No one should spend more than they earn.
“I think that reasoning in this way we can overcome the crisis in the space of five years, investing in youngsters, following them with attention, avoiding cases like that of Giuseppe Rossi.
“There are new ways and we need to follow them,” Preziosi concluded.
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