Genoa forward Lorenzo Colombo enters matchday ten against Lecce on the back of his club's most convincing result of the season — a 2-0 home victory against Juventus — and with his coach publicly signalling that a more prominent role is imminent.
Daniele De Rossi, speaking ahead of the Lecce fixture, made his intentions explicit regarding the 24-year-old: the Genoa head coach indicated that pairing Colombo alongside Strahinja Osmajic is a combination he intends to deploy, framing it as something supporters should anticipate. That is a meaningful statement from a coach whose side has scored just eight goals in nine Serie A matches this season. When a manager volunteers a striker's name in a pre-match briefing, it is rarely accidental.
The numbers around Colombo tell a story of contribution without yet telling one of goals. In seven Serie A appearances this season he has registered two assists and carries an average rating of 6.35 — functional, present, but not yet the decisive force Genoa need him to become. His one goal in 2026-27 came in the Coppa Italia, not in the league, which keeps the pressure on him to convert his involvement into something more tangible at Serie A level. An AI overall of 75 out of 100, with a potential of 78, suggests the ceiling is close — the gap between current output and ceiling is narrow enough to close quickly, but only if the minutes and the confidence arrive together.
Genoa's position — 13th with ten points from nine matches, three wins against five defeats — reflects a squad that has shown it can beat the best on a given night, as the Juventus result demonstrated, but has leaked thirteen goals and lacks the attacking consistency to build a cushion above the lower reaches of the table. De Rossi's hint at a Colombo-Osmajic partnership is, in that context, less a luxury and more a necessity: the Grifone need more goals, and Colombo is the man the coach is pointing toward.
Lecce arrive at this fixture looking to recover from their own heavy defeat against Frosinone, which makes the match a collision between two sides seeking momentum rather than consolidating it. For Colombo, a start alongside Osmajic — if De Rossi follows through — would represent the clearest opportunity yet to turn a season of assists and near-misses into something the standings can reflect.