Genoa's Marco Ottolini reveals how he built a team up from Serie B into midtable in Serie A in two seasons

If you happen to visit Italy and you want to experience one of the most exciting atmospheres for a Serie A game, you need to go to a Genoa match. Founded in 1893, Genoa Cricket and Football Club are still the most historic Italian team as of today, and your expectations won't be disappointed if you watch a game at Marassi. The passion of the fans combined with an iconic stadium create one of the best places to attend a soccer game around the country, but there is much more to know about this club today.

Genoa have faced some ups and downs over the past two decades. Iconic players such as Diego Milito, Rodrigo Palacio and Thiago Motta made history at the club, and managers such as current Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini made their name thanks to this crest. However, things didn't go in the right direction with the previous ownership led by Italian businessman Enrico Preziosi and after almost 20 years in charge, he sold the club to the American private investment company 777 Partners.

In September 2021, the American company took over and started a new cycle at Genoa, stewarded by Alberto Zangrillo as the president of the club. Zangrillo is a notable figure in the Italian public scene, as he's currently the Head of Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care of the Scientific Institute San Raffaele Hospital of Milan, and he was previously known as the personal doctor of former Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi. It's not a typical profile for a soccer executive, to say the least.

After a challenging start to their cycle at Genoa when they were relegated to the Italian second division, the club started from zero in the summer 2022 and immediately managed to be promoted in their first Serie B season. One year later, they ended up 11th in their first season in the Italian Serie A after the promotion under the management of former striker Alberto Gilardino, who was also the one leading the team to the promotion. This outstanding path became possible thanks to the job of sport director Marco Ottolini, who was appointed in after the disappointment of the relegation in the Italian Serie B.

The 44-year-old Ottolini sat down with CBS Sports and explained how he made Genoa sustainable again after a very busy summer transfer window.

"It was an active market for us. We have completed many deals for both incomings and outgoings, but it was a long transfer window. This is why I strongly believe it should end at least before the start of the leagues. Before the summer, we had too many players in our roster, and now we have reduced this number. This new status will make the club cleaner, we will be able to plan with more vision in the future."

Genoa had to go through a big revolution over the past months, considering the number of players that were in the roster: "We have sold 18 players permanently, and we have also reduced the number of loans, both for the new regulations but also for the salaries since we had to contribute to many of these. Now we have the opportunity to make investments in young players, and also to be able to make them grow. We will be able to do it with more serenity. I think we can now see the future with different eyes, as most of the loan deals we have are younger than 23-year-old and also with low salaries."

The club sold some key players over the past three transfer windows and made around $90 million for the outgoings, but also invested a lot. In fact, despite selling two players such as striker Mateo Retegui to Atalanta for around $25 million and Albert Gudmundsson to Fiorentina on loan with a buy-option for a potential package of $30 million, Genoa signed permanently Vitinha this summer from Olympique Marseille for around $18 million.

"Over the last season, I was already thinking what to do with Retegui and Gudmundsson," Ottolini explained. "I was trying to figure out what to do. Retegui's transfer to Atalanta was quick, but we knew that if the bid arrived he would have left. Maybe the timings were different from what we thought, but it didn't surprise us. Albert, on the other hand, given how things went last season, I could have imagined that something could happen but...we had almost taken it for granted that he could stay here for at least another year. The scenarios quickly changed and he moved to Fiorentina. We were ready. We knew that we couldn't play in the same way as last season, so we decided to sign Vitinha permanently and then sign a central striker with experience such as Andrea Pinamonti. He was very keen to come back here, and for us he was the right profile after speaking with Gilardino as well. He provides us experience, goals, and also makes those around him play well."

Talking about the manager, Gilardino is one of the most interesting names of Italian Serie A. He was appointed as the Genoa Primavera coach in the summer 2022, but then he was named as the first team head coach in December of that year. Only months after that appointment he brought Genoa back to the Italian Serie A and in his first season fully in charge he ended up 11th in the first division. After some talks at the beginning of the summer, Gilardino and Genoa decided to continue together and he signed a new deal valid until the summer of 2026.

"When you talk about contract renewals, you always have to evaluate everything. We have to be sustainable and enhance young players, take risks. We wanted to continue together. We just had to align ourselves."

Genoa, under the vision of Ottolini, want to create a right balance of young talents that can potentially become world class players in the future, such as Koni De Winter. The Belgian defender, born in 2002, started his Italian career at Juventus where Ottolini himself worked before as well. After a loan spell at Empoli, Genoa decided to sign him permanently from Juventus in the summer of 2023, and made him a regular starter under Gilardino. Ottolini knows him very well and believes he can only improve.

"He doesn't feel the pressure, I've seen him grow since I was at Juventus. In the last year he has increased his experience. We are happy he was called up again with the first national team. With us, he found the continuity he needed."

Of course, the summer transfer window was the biggest challenge for Genoa's sporting director, but he says he is ultimately happy with the work done over the past months. "We have five new players, three of our loans came back, and two players from the Primavera who are now with us on a daily basis. We must try to consolidate our position in the league. This is the third year of this cycle, after the promotion and the first season in Serie A we have changed a lot, but we must keep our identity."

The transfer market is also a moment when opportunities might become reality, and others don't. Former Inter striker Ivan Perisic, who had the chance to make his comeback to Serie A on deadline day, was a move that didn't come off, for example.

"Yes, there were some talks. A player of this type was not expected to arrive in this transfer session. There could have been particularly advantageous conditions, but then nothing happened."

As with many sporting directors and managers, Ottolini is not a big fan of the market being open in the first weeks of the season: "It's very difficult. We are talking about human beings, sometimes from the outside you think that coaches, players and managers are like cards. Every deal is a world apart, there are expectations, changes in life, things that are never mentioned. Then if you add the games, it creates a very difficult situation. I think it makes sense to review this, but everyone must agree. At least the European top five leagues have to be aligned. Years ago we tried to change it, but then it was not coordinated with the other European leagues and it only created more problems."

Despite the challenges Genoa have come a long way over the past three seasons. Now, with a newly constructed team, the question is just how high can they climb.

As always you can watch all of Serie A across Paramount+ , CBS Sports Network and CBS Sports Golazo Network .