Football Season Guide

Returning to the Serie A after just 1 year of absence, Genoa had an excellent last season, achieving an early salvation and finishing just below the top 10. To tell the truth, they had actually started the campaign rather slowly, remaining too close to the bottom standings at least until mid-December. Then, all of a sudden, they turned into a solid team, especially defensively, as they conceded 45 goals only in the end, and marched all the way up, even flirting for some time with the European spots. Coach Alberto Gilardino, who had led them to promotion from the Serie B, was the man in charge last season and he was logically confirmed also for the new campaign despite attracting the interest of bigger clubs. At the moment of writing, Genoa still are a bit of a work in progress: they have not been very active in terms of new signings but, rather, they first made relevant efforts acquiring permanently a few players on loan from other clubs. This was certainly the case of striker Vitinha, who cost them a fortune, although he hardly set foot on the pitch since arriving in town. On the other hand, Starting Centre-back De Winter was also logically confirmed together with Thorsby, a good back-up for the midfield especially now that aging Strootman was released, while Bohinen may be given another chance after leaving no mark last season. In terms of departures, they let Martinez go to Inter, and replaced him with Gollini, who hardly played last season at Napoli but is a skilled player. Since Spence returned to his parent club after some decent performances, they signed from Napoli on loan Zanoli, who will thus fill the hole at right-back. With Retegui signing for Atalanta, it seems unlikely for them to sell also outstanding Gudmundsson, as they would not have the necessary time to find an adequate replacement for their big star.