Genoa director Andrés Blazquez insists it was necessary to sell Radu Dragusin to Tottenham and hints that Djed Spence can remain at Marassi beyond the summer.
Blazquez has spoken to Italian media, including ANSA, La Repubblica and La Gazzetta dello Sport, about the Grifone’s January transfer campaign.
Genoa sold Dragusin to Tottenham for over €30m and Blazquez explained that the defender’s departure was necessary for the club’s finances.
“He received an important offer. We will miss him because he is a great professional, but having sold to a club like Tottenham was certainly prestigious.”
English full-back Spence joined Genoa on loan from Tottenham but the Serie A side have an option to make his move permanent at the end of the season.
“He can be an important signing for the future,” said Blazquez as quoted by Tuesday’s printed edition of Gazzetta on page 21.
“We had already opened talks last summer, but he was too expensive and we believe he will give us great satisfaction.”
West Ham and Fiorentina had targeted Albert Gudmundsson last month, but Genoa refused to sell their best scorer.
Fiorentina, in particular, made concrete steps to sign the 26-year-old in the final days of the winter transfer window.
“They called me three or four days before the end of the transfer window, but I told them not even to send their offer,” said the Genoa director who said the asking price for the versatile striker was €40m.
“I was clear with Albert: ‘You are too important for us to leave now. For Genoa, you can be the difference between getting in the top 10 or not.'”
The Genoa director revealed Kevin Strootman jokingly warned his teammate during talks between him and club executives in January.
“If you go away, I’ll come to find you at your house,” the former Roma midfielder told Gudmundsson.
Lastly, Blazquez spoke about the future of coach Alberto Gilardino, whose contract expires in the summer.
“I’ve asked him what coach he wants to be,” said the Genoa director.
“A Wenger, or a Ferguson with a medium-long term project, or do another kind of career. He was open about the first option. He is evolving as a coach. We know what he wants to do, so we are trying to build a team that suits his playing style.”