I'm the next England hopeful who's finally fulfilling his potential thanks to Serie A move

Much has already been said about the impact of the British players in Italy's top flight this season. 

Scott McTominay is the obvious poster boy for the trend, having picked up the league's Player of the Year earlier this month, while Jamie Vardy's goals are a key factor in Cremonese's competitive start to life back in Serie A. 

However, beyond those standouts and the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Lewis Ferguson, another name has emerged in Genoa, where Brooke Norton-Cuffy is starring for Daniele De Rossi's side. 

A product of the Arsenal academy, Norton-Cuffy joined the Gunners at the age of ten and played at various youth levels for the club, without breaking through to earn a first-team appearance.  

Instead, the defender experienced life in the lower leagues through a series of loan spells, racking up nearly 100 games across stints at Lincoln, Rotherham, Coventry and Millwall. 

His performances were enough to see him capped by England at U20 and U21 level, but tired of waiting for a permanent opportunity in North London, at 20 years old, he decided to try something different and joined Geona in the summer of 2024.

Following the trend of young stars like Jamie Gittens and Jonathan Rowe, who have moved abroad in the search for more game time and new life experiences. 

It was a slow start for Norton-Cuffy, as he struggled with some niggling injuries in the early part of last season, before establishing himself in the team in the second half of the campaign and eventually playing 14 times for the club, before a summer that saw him part of England Under-21's Euros triumph. 

This year, he's stepped it up further and has so far played every league game in 2025-26. So, having made the move to Italy, what is the biggest difference the now 21-year-old has found between Serie A and football back home?

"I'd say Serie A is a lot more tactical," Norton-Cuffy tells DAZN. 

"I feel like it's a lot more difficult because, defensively, they think it's slightly more defensive. 

"So if you go 1-0 down against a team or 2-0 down, it's like it's so hard to get back into the game. Whereas in England, it's always, OK, can we get the next goal and how do we get the next goal? 

"The games are a lot more open, whereas here it's more like a chess game. So that's probably one of the biggest differences I've noticed." 
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The player's rapid pace from full-back has become a real asset to Genoa, especially since the arrival of De Rossi as boss in October. Norton-Cuffy has also shown his attacking prowess by getting off the mark for the club, scoring the winner in the 2-1 victory over Udinese last weekend. 

Given his performances in attack, there have been suggestions over the young star's best position, but for the moment, he's happy being deployed at full-back. 

"I'm a right back, but I do like to go forward, so I'm playing right back now and when I have the opportunity to go forward and affect the game, I try and do this because I think it's one of my strengths and it's something I'm good at.

"I can play both roles, I can play on the wing, I can play as a full-back. For me, it's the same, as long as I'm on the pitch to help the team, I'll play where I have to play, so for me it's no difference." 

Genoa are now unbeaten in their last five under De Rossi, and have moved away from the relegation battle at the bottom, underlining the effect Norton-Cuffy has had on the team. 

If he continues the form he's been so far this season, if can't be long before Thomas Tuchel is looking in his direction, but the level-headed defender for the moment is just thinking of his team and continuing the run they are on. 

Adding, "Once you win one game and you have momentum, winning breeds winning. So once you win, I feel like we'll start to kick on and we'll just keep going from there. 

"My personal objectives for the season?  First, I don't only think about me, I have to think about the team first. So for me, as a defender, I want to keep my clean sheets and I feel like as a team we will do this.

"I want to play as many games as possible and just improve every single game.I want to get better and better and better and show that I can play at this level and be a top, top player at this level." 

He'll get a chance to show just how far he's come this weekend, as Genoa host title-chasing Inter as part of Matchday Fifteen. 

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