Norton-Cuffy is taking flight at Genoa, but his future can wait

Daniele De Rossi had said that Brooke Norton-Cuffy had ‘incredible unexplored potential’ and we saw just what he meant when scoring Genoa’s winner, confirming him a real bargain from Arsenal.

The wide man had already impressed the new Genoa coach in training, with the tactician pointing out in the pre-match press conference that Norton-Cuffy has the physical qualities of the top European players, but is still getting to know Italian football.

De Rossi showed him video of Raoul Bellanova performances and movements, trying to get him to understand the Serie A way of doing things in his role.

It certainly paid off, as the England Under-21 international scored the winner against Udinese last night.

Norton-Cuffy has been an absolute bargain for Genoa, who paid €3m including add-ons to secure him from Arsenal, although the Gunners do retain a percentage of the sell-on fee.

Now it’s about getting the best out of him, knowing full well that in January they’ll need to resist offers and wait until the summer to make any decisions regarding his future.

It won’t be easy, as Juventus and Napoli are among the clubs who already have their sights set on him, but the mission right now is to steer Genoa towards Serie A safety under De Rossi.