Genoa President Enrico Preziosi confirmed Nantes full-back Issa Cissokho will join, but “won’t apologise forever” for the UEFA fiasco.

The patron held a Press conference today “to talk about the Genoa that has been and the Genoa that will come. I think we did great work last season.

“It’s not true we ‘dismantled’ the team, as only Iago Falque left and we knew Andrea Bertolacci was going anyway. There are economic and sporting decisions to be made and I am here to do what is best for the club.

Genoa President Enrico Preziosi confirmed Nantes full-back Issa Cissokho will join, but “won’t apologise forever” for the UEFA fiasco.

The patron held a Press conference today “to talk about the Genoa that has been and the Genoa that will come. I think we did great work last season.

“It’s not true we ‘dismantled’ the team, as only Iago Falque left and we knew Andrea Bertolacci was going anyway. There are economic and sporting decisions to be made and I am here to do what is best for the club.

“I will only allow the fans to be fans, not give orders. Diego Perotti’s situation is also complex. If we all put €100 in then we might be able to keep him, but that’s not a way of doing business.”

Above all, Preziosi was asked about the failure to fill out paperwork correctly for the UEFA licence, meaning their Europa League spot went to arch rivals Sampdoria instead.

“I know this is a wound for the fans and I apologise again, I take responsibility and gave the players bonuses even when I knew we weren’t going to qualify.

“I say sorry, but I won’t apologise forever. This is the last time, it will never happen again. Enough. The fans must be fans and Presidents be Presidents.

“From now on Genoa will have to be financially self-sufficient and we are on the right track. When I said the fans will soon realise they had the best post-war Genoa President, I was being modest. I am a free man who won’t let himself be conditioned by fan protests.

“In fact, it’s a blessing that we didn’t get into the Europa League, as in my view we’d have needed a much bigger squad that we cannot afford right now. If it was the Champions League, then yes, but there just isn’t the money in the Europa League.

“It’s also on a Thursday evening and that makes it difficult to recover in time for the weekend Serie A games. Hopefully with time we’ll do well enough to forget what happened.”

Preziosi confirmed Genoa will sign 30-year-old Senegal international full-back Cissokho from Nantes, while Diogo Figueiras arrives on loan from Sevilla.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tickets Kit Collector