Former Gunner with sell-on earns starting spot under Patrick Vieira | OneFootball

Former Arsenal academy defender Brooke Norton-Cuffy has made himself a starter for Genoa under manager Patrick Vieira, following a slow start to life with the Serie A club.

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Brooke Norton-Cuffy left Arsenal for Genoa last summer, joining the Serie A club for a fixed fee of €2m, with €2m in potential add-ons and a sell-on clause in his contract.

So if Arsenal hope to maximise the value of the sale, Norton-Cuffy needed to push on with Genoa, activating his add-on clauses before leaving for a significant fee to net the Gunners some sell-on cash.

Yet Norton-Cuffy started slowly with his new club, making just eight Serie A appearances in his first eight months in Italy. A few injury setbacks disrupted his momentum, and a change in manager to Gunners legend Patrick Vieira last November didn’t initially appear to help.

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Things have changed since then. Norton-Cuffy broke into the starting lineup for a match against Lazio in mid-April of this year, and he’s started every Serie A match since.

La Gazzetta dello Sport report that Norton-Cuffy is now worth at least €10m, primarily thanks to the work of Vieira.

The former Arsenal midfielder has worked hard on raising Norton-Cuffy’s technical level, with other clubs starting to take notice of his progress.

Norton-Cuffy’s five appearances in the England u21s’ successful European Championships campaign over the summer would also have helped to raise his profile.

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It’s reportedly “unthinkable” that Genoa could consider selling Norton-Cuffy right now, with a belief that he’s still yet to reach his potential.

But the growing interest in the 21-year-old is good news for everyone involved, including Arsenal as they wait to pick up their add-on and sell-on money.