Arsenal chief Edu agrees cheap back-door exit for star with 'one hell of a future'

Arsenal youngster Brooke Norton-Cuffy is set to join Genoa in a cut-price deal, according to reports. The 20-year-old excelled on loan at Millwall last season, but that wasn’t enough to land him a place in Mikel Arteta’s pre-season plans.

Youngsters Myles Lewis-Skelly, Ethan Nwaneri and Charles Sagoe Jr were among those included in Arsenal’s recent pre-season tour of the USA. But there was no space for Norton-Cuffy, who has already banked more than a century of senior appearances across several loan spells in League One and the Championship.

The promising right-back could now be set to leave north London without ever making a first-team appearance for Arsenal, with sporting director Edu sanctioning a permanent exit.

According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Norton-Cuffy will conduct his medical at Genoa later this week after the two clubs agreed an initial £1.7million deal, although future add-ons could bump up the overall fee.

Genoa are seemingly hedging their bets on a young, English right-back for the second season in a row, having helped Tottenham star Djed Spence rediscover his best form during a loan spell in 2023/24.

Norton-Cuffy, an England Under-21 international, is one of the brightest graduates of Arsenal’s Hale End academy in recent years. And Millwall’s Ryan Leonard, who he shared a dressing room with last season, believes he is destined for the top.

“Brooke has been excellent all season,” he explained in December 2023. “He did well at Coventry last year and has hit the ground running. He’s got a hell of a future in the game.”

Norton-Cuffy was a regular for the Lions last season, making 40 appearances to help them to a respectable 13th-place finish in the second tier. With new signing Riccardo Calafiori bedding in and more recruits likely before the summer transfer deadline, Arsenal have had to get ruthless with a number of their fringe players.

Norton-Cuffy would merely be the latest in a growing line of academy graduates to flee north London. Goalkeeper prospect Arthur Okonkwo has joined Wrexham on a permanent deal after impressing on loan last campaign, and Emile Smith Rowe has been sold to Fulham for an initial £27m.

Arteta, meanwhile, has put his full faith in teenagers Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly by leaving the door open to regular first-team minutes this term after their impressive performances in pre-season.