Genoa President Enrico Preziosi warns he’ll set the price for Krzysztof Piątek – “those who want him will have to be serious and talk to me”.
The Polish striker has been on fire scoring for his country over the international break to add to 13 goals in eight games for the Grifone.
“There’s no release clause, I never usually include one,” Preziosi told Gazzetta dello Sport.
Genoa President Enrico Preziosi warns he’ll set the price for Krzysztof Piątek – “those who want him will have to be serious and talk to me”.
The Polish striker has been on fire scoring for his country over the international break to add to 13 goals in eight games for the Grifone.
“There’s no release clause, I never usually include one,” Preziosi told Gazzetta dello Sport.
“Negotiating with me is free, if a club wants one of my players then we can sit down and talk: ‘this is the price, do you want him?’.
“I don’t know Piątek’s price yet and for now I’m not asking the question, Piątek is crucial for Genoa and I have to think about Genoa.
“Of course I’m not going to delude anyone, we know that someone will take him away because he’s a superstar and they’ll multiply his salary by 10.
“He’ll earn, Genoa will earn and we’ll focus on [Andrea] Favilli. We’re already inundated with phone calls from Italy and Europe, all from top clubs.
“Those who want him will have to be serious and talk to me, anything else will be considered malpractice.”
Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis claimed this week he’s already had discussions about Piątek…
“He said it, I never reveal to whom I speak and who is interested in one of my players.”
The Grifone owner then revealed how the €4.5m transfer came about in the first place.
“It was love at first sight,” Preziosi recalled.
“The Polish league, with a few exceptions, has never really been followed and top clubs want to take players ready to explode and spend more for them.
“Take [Kylian] Mbappé, Paris Saint-Germain signed him at 19, not 14, and paid a crazy sum. Let’s just say that if Juventus had taken Piątek they’d probably have parked him somewhere else to play. “I got the tip-off from an agent friend, Gabriele Giuffrida. We went through the usual process: highlights – but they’re all phenomena there so I just skim them – a Wyscout link, and then watching a game.
“I don’t remember who Cracovia were playing but I remember where I watched it: in my house in Ibiza.
“It was late May, with just me, the TV and no-one else. I have a way of evaluating my players, I need to be alone without being influenced.
“He was a striker who had everything: right foot, left foot, aerial ability. And he was always where the ball arrived. Always.
“I got up from the coach and called Giuffrida and said: ‘I’ll take him’, then I said to [sporting director Giorgio] Perinetti: ‘we need to go to Krakow immediately’.
“The next day it was all done. That’s the way I am, you can make a mistake or misstep but I don’t like to wait.
“There are players you watch and rewatch, with Piątek there’s nothing to think about.
“The €4.5m seemed like a fair and honest price. I bought him for Genoa, not to sell him on again.
“Ivan Juric? Piątek doesn't score depending on who coaches him, Piątek scores because he has goals in his blood.”