Genoa right-back Brooke Norton-Cuffy finds himself at the centre of a late transfer window story, with reports emerging that Venezia have reached an agreement with the Grifone to sign the 22-year-old before the close of the summer market. The timing is pointed: it arrives as Genoa sit bottom of the Serie A table after two matches, without a point or a goal to their name.
The sporting context makes the potential departure more complicated to read. Daniele De Rossi's side have conceded three goals and scored none across their opening two fixtures, and the coach has been candid about the structural reasons. After a 1-0 defeat away to Lazio — decided by a Frattesi goal — De Rossi acknowledged that his team lack verticality and the individual quality to win duels in wide areas, noting they "shoot too little" in terms of shots on goal. That is precisely the territory a dynamic, attack-minded right-back is supposed to address.
Norton-Cuffy has featured in both Serie A matches this season, carrying an average rating of 6.65 across those appearances. He has not scored or assisted in the league, though he did register an assist in a Coppa Italia appearance — a competition in which those numbers were produced separately from the current Serie A campaign. His AI overall sits at 71 out of 100, with a potential of 78, figures that position him as a player still ascending rather than one who has reached his ceiling.
That developmental arc is what makes the Venezia link worth scrutinising. A move to another Serie A club would keep Norton-Cuffy in the same competitive environment, but it would also remove one of De Rossi's more forward-thinking options from a squad that, by the coach's own admission, needs more dynamism on the flanks. Genoa had previously valued the Englishman at €20 million, a figure that signalled intent to sell rather than protect — and the reported agreement with Venezia suggests that price point has found a buyer, or something close to one.
For Norton-Cuffy himself, the calculation is different. At 22, with a potential ceiling that his current numbers have not yet touched, the priority is minutes and momentum. Whether Genoa — a side that has shipped three goals without reply and is still searching for its first Serie A point of 2026-27 — can offer that in the way a move might, is the question his camp will be weighing as the window closes.
De Rossi needs solutions. Norton-Cuffy may be one of them, or he may be about to become someone else's.