Genoa close to signing Crespo and Quaresma

Genoa president Enrico Preziosi on Tuesday claimed his club were close to tying up a deal to sign Inter Milan pair Hernan Crespo and Ricardo Quaresma.

Inter are themselves close to finalising a deal for Genoa stars Diego Milito and Thiago Motta and now it seems Crespo and Quaresma will travel in the opposite direction in a direct swap.

“I’m meeting (Fernando) Hidalgo (Crespo’s agent) on Wednesday to finalise the Crespo deal,” Preziosi told Radio Radio TV.

“We’re (also) interested in Quaresma, there’s a deal in place with Inter on the basis of 10 million euros and now we just have to come to an agreement with the player.”

Quaresma only joined Inter at the beginning of the season but was a complete flop and was loaned out to Chelsea in January.

However, he couldn’t force his way into their team either and has hardly played this season since joining from Porto for 19 million euros last August.

It is the second time a move to a big club has gone sour for the Portugal winger after he also struggled at Barcelona in 2003-04.

Argentine Crespo, 33, has increasingly become a bit-part player for Inter this season as he found himself behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Mario Balotelli and Adriano (until he left the club) in the striker pecking order.

Inter boss Jose Mourinho previously spoke of the need to bring in four new players ahead of next season while also trimming his squad, meaning several others may soon be following Crespo and Quaresma away from the San Siro.