One man who has been involved with Genoa throughout the process is the club's CEO, Andres Blazquez, and he sat down with us at Flashscore to discuss Sucu's success in court, A-Cap's tumultuous reign as owners and his long-term vision for the club.
On 23rd of June, the Tribunale di Genova rejected ACap’s challenge in full for the third time after two cautionary proceedings. What did that moment mean for you and for the club after 18 months of litigation?
Andres Blazquez: "If I were to say it was a relief, I would be telling you a half-lie because we were completely confident that the whole process of recapitalisation, the capital increase, was done not only by the book but was needed to save Genoa. It confirmed the right thing was done for Genoa's sake and validated something that we knew from the very beginning.
"And we came out of a complicated relationship with an ex-owner that is now being investigated for various matters in the US that are quite public. It is not something I need to say; I won't comment on specifics because it's public news.
"We are relieved; we feel validated and from the very beginning, when Mr Sucu came in, he's been a very present owner, very positive, very committed. He took a huge risk coming in with the company near bankruptcy.
"He goes to almost all the games. We are happy that this chapter, at least the 22% still under their ownership, is no longer under their control."
With that in mind, would you say the battle is now truly over? ACap still formally holds around 22% of the club. Is that right? Currently under precautionary seizure, with a court-appointed custodian exercising the voting rights.
What is the realistic endgame for that minority stake? A buyout, a settlement, or more years in court? And what do you think the biggest lessons learned from this legal battle have been?
"I cannot predict the legal future. I think you stated the facts, and the facts are that ACap has zero involvement with Genoa. I think A-Cap has the legal recourse afforded by Italian law and then they will pursue whatever they think is correct for them.
"We will defend the situation, and I believe that the court has been very clear so far, and I believe the facts are there.
"I want to cover the future, A-Cap has serving debts of around €50 million, and they will have to pay that before they enjoy any economic rights. In the meantime, they have no political rights or any governance rights."
'Sucu has a clear plan for Genoa'
Dan Sucu is without any legal doubt the owner of Genoa. What changes in practice from today in terms of investment, budget, infrastructure, and the medium-term project do you expect now that every decision no longer carries a legal asterisk?
"From the beginning that Mr Sucu came in, there was never any afterthought about the legal ramifications because there was a very clear objective on what he wanted from Genoa. There was a clear premise under which he made his investment. We never thought there would be any contrary legal outcome, and he invested and ran Genoa as if this was the case.
"I think the biggest thing is that the legal cost assumed by Genoa over this period was substantial. It was in the millions.
"As has been demonstrated, A-Cap's involvement was highly challenging from the perspective of KYC issues in dealing with other stakeholders and financial institutions."
"I think this opens the ground to get new types of financial partners there. Not because of the A-Cap situation but because of Genoa's general financial improvement and the value of the roster. I think we'll be able to continue the plan to sanitise the club, improve the finances and keep investing without this being a bit of reputational dead weight for us."
Mr Sucu also owns Rapid Bucuresti. Is there a working sporting relationship between the clubs? And are we likely to see some Romanian players signing for Genoa in the next few years?
"We had a difficult beginning in the sporting relationship because it all happened in between the market windows. We made some mistakes initially in how to approach the situation. Now this has been clarified. We sent three young players to Rapid. One player we believe in for their future development is Chec Doumbia; he's a midfielder, and he's just arriving there.
"We send technical staff to Bucharest to exchange knowledge and best practices with them. We also believe Rapid has a very good chance of playing in European competition.
"We think Rapid will do that in the very near future. So yes, it's going to be more thoughtful and more cooperative. We're talking about staff exchange, coaching, preparation, potentially friendly games, but with a well-thought-out process."
'We were offered Djed Spence and David de Gea'
You say ACap mismanaged the club but can you explain how much that mismanagement has cost Geona?
"I can give you one example related to the ACap management and sporting damage that cost us. We had an option to buy Djed Spence for €7m, and they declined. When he played for us, remember, and he was happy here, we had the option, and ACap’s management said, ‘No, you cannot afford this’.
"I said, 'Look, it's a good opportunity.' De Gea was offered to us for free, and again I think ACap said: 'He is an old-style goalie; we shouldn't get him.’
"I guarantee you that situation wouldn't have happened if Mr Sucu was in control at the time."
Do you think you have enough freedom now to sign the players? If there is a Djed Spence on the market, can you make that deal happen now?
"100%. I guarantee you that if Mr Sucu had been in control at the time, we would have exercised the option to buy David de Gea.
"Even Mason Greenwood was offered by the same person. So I would say we probably lost over €70/80 million in player value by having people external to football. We weren't allowed to make decisions based on sporting concepts.
"Mr Sucu and I know how to delegate, which I think is a big plus. I'm not going to select which colour to paint the wall behind me because I have no taste, so I'm not going to pick a player because I have no knowledge, but we have people and we ask the right questions."
So, moving on to Italian football. I know Italian football isn't in the best place right now but as an executive with international experience, what is your overall impression of Italian football?
For example, do you think Serie A has fallen behind the other major European leagues or is the gap smaller than some people think?
"No, you're right. I think Italy in the 90s was the top championship, and now, in the top five leagues, I think we're in fourth place- a big gap with the others in terms of roster value and TV rights.
"The good thing is we are behind, but the potential remains very high. That's good news. We have fantastic brands. Juventus, Inter Milan, a historical Roma, Napoli and the oldest club in Italy, Genoa.
"The owner of the past that had plenty of resources has almost disappeared from the Italian marketplace. You have moved into professional investors, who often are high-net-worth individuals, as is the case at Roma, Parma, Milan, etc.
"But the biggest problem we have is infrastructure. The stadiums have really fallen behind. We have a dire need for new stadiums where you can develop new types of income. I believe we are way behind in infrastructure, way behind."
Fabregas's Como proves that in the modern game, having financial backing is crucial to breaking into the established so-called 'big boys', as they've been able to do in the last two campaigns. In their first season in Serie A, they finished around mid-table, and now they've just qualified for the Champions League.
Do you think that gives teams that incentive to dream, or do you think you need that financial backing?
"I mean, you look at many studies about what makes a team perform; it's linked to the salaries you pay the players. It's a high correlation. It's almost one-to-one, basically, between how much you pay the players and the performance.
"It's always variation, but over the long-medium term, you're going to find it's almost like a straight correlated line on salary and performance. There are very few coaches that are able to change the performance of a team.
"But in any case, financial resources are critical. Not only have Como done an excellent job with an excellent coach, but also with excellent management.
"I think they are probably the richest team in Serie A, but not the one invested in the most. I think they have invested wisely. They have scouted wisely. I think the sports director has done a good job of assembling a good set of people."