President Enrico Preziosi confirmed this evening that the Genoa sale to the SRI Group and Giulio Gallazzi has fallen through.
Due diligence was completed and Preziosi demanded €120m to sell the oldest club in Italian football, but SRI were reportedly wary over substantial debts.
Preziosi spoke to Primocanale on Thursday night and revealed the negotiations were never as advanced as previously thought.
“I don’t know what happened on their end, but I do know that at a certain point we believed it could go through,” said Preziosi.
President Enrico Preziosi confirmed this evening that the Genoa sale to the SRI Group and Giulio Gallazzi has fallen through.
Due diligence was completed and Preziosi demanded €120m to sell the oldest club in Italian football, but SRI were reportedly wary over substantial debts.
Preziosi spoke to Primocanale on Thursday night and revealed the negotiations were never as advanced as previously thought.
“I don’t know what happened on their end, but I do know that at a certain point we believed it could go through,” said Preziosi.
“I still have a very strong desire to sell, but not to get rid of the club or shake off 14 years of history with Genoa. I believed to the end, but there weren’t the conditions to carry on the negotiations.
“I will do what I have to do. The problem is not the protests from the fans, nor their insults, because I am used to them now. I just want to make sure these 14 years are not wasted or destroyed. I believe I did the right thing.
“I was never that certain about the SRI Group, but there were reliable people pushing me in that direction and I thought they must have the foundations to conclude it. That wasn’t the case, so now what do I do?
“As President, it is my duty towards the fans, the club, the players and staff to do my duty. I won’t stop looking for a buyer. We will enact due diligence, so nobody can say we’ve got skeletons in the closet.
“Some might not believe me, but Genoa are in better shape than people think. I always paid my debts, the only blemish was the failure to get the UEFA licence.
“I realise that made the fans suffer, but I apologised enough for that. I paid enough and I am still paying.”
Genoa had qualified for the Europa League at the end of the 2014-15 season, but were not allowed into the tournament because the club had unpaid debts and a financial guarantee to temporarily cover the gap was not registered correctly.