By his own admission, Brooke Norton-Cuffy is big on manifestation – so you wouldn’t bet against him playing at the highest level possible.Genoa’s England Under-21s star has continued to go from strength to strength since completing a cut-price £3.5million move from Arsenal.Norton-Cuffy registered an assist in Genoa’s first competitive game of the new seasonGettyThe 22-year-old enjoyed the perfect start to his third season in Italy with an assist in a 4-1 win over Ascoli in the Coppa Italia first round.During an exclusive interview with talkSPORT.com before Genoa‘s 2-0 defeat to Napoli, he said: “You always want to win every game possible and to start the season as strong as possible. It kind of puts you in good stead for the rest of the season.“Individually, I feel like I worked a lot in pre-season, worked a little bit in the off-season to start the season as strong as possible. “So to start off with an assist and what I would say is a decent performance – it’s a good start.”Norton-Cuffy on transfer interestThe London-born defender was reported to have been a target for both Everton and Hull City this summer after impressing in Italy.Asked whether it’s easy as a player to tune out transfer speculation at this time of year, he replied: “I’ll say yes and no, because obviously you hear stuff. “You’ve got friends, you’ve got family, you’ve got teammates, etc. So you’re always going to hear stuff.“But for me, this pre-season, I consciously made the effort to not be on social media as much, not be on Instagram, not be scrolling on my phone too long and just kind of enjoy the off-season and switch off from everything.“It was my first off-season with an actual break. I had no international this year, so I enjoyed my holidays. Norton-Cuffy racked up over 2000 minutes for Genoa last season off the back of winning the European Under-21 ChampionshipGetty“Then I had a little pre-season camp, and during pre-season, it was just, ‘I’m at Genoa, concentrating on Genoa. How am I going to start the season? How am I going to get better day to day?’ “So it wasn’t easy to tune out, but I think I’ve tuned out most things quite well.”Premier League ‘not a goal that I feel like I need to do’Norton-Cuffy’s ex-Lincoln City boss, Michael Appleton, once said he would definitely play regular Premier League football in the future.The former’s career has since taken him in a different direction since then, with the right-back claiming his sole focus is on becoming the best player possible – regardless of the division he is in.“I wouldn’t say I have a long-term goal of, ‘I need to play in the Premier League’,” Norton-Cuffy added to talkSPORT.com. Brooke Norton-Cuffy featured 24 times for Coventry in the 2022/23 season as the Sky Blues were beaten on penalties in the Championship play-off finalGetty“Obviously it’s one of the best leagues in the world, and I think I would enjoy playing football there, but it’s not a goal that I feel like I need to do.“And it’s not something that I’m pushing or pressing to do. “I just want to play football at the highest level possible and become the best player possible, and whoever that is and wherever that takes me, that takes me.”Norton-Cuffy on moving to GenoaIl Vecchio Balordo’s No.15 spent a decade on the books at Arsenal after enjoying several years at the Chelsea academy.He had amassed over 100 senior appearances prior to his switch to Genoa in August 2024, but none of them for Mikel Arteta‘s side.Instead, Norton-Cuffy spent time on loan at Lincoln, Rotherham, Millwall, and even starred for Coventry alongside now-Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres.On how his surprise move to Serie A came about, he revealed: “My last loan was at Millwall. I felt like I had done what I needed to do in the Championship, I would say.Norton-Cuffy was Arsenal’s Scholar of the Year in 2022, but never managed to make his senior debutGetty“I’d done two seasons there, two full seasons in the Championship. I wanted to make a step up to the next level, playing in one of the top five leagues. And which obviously Serie A is.“I had a call from a few clubs, but I just thought Genoa was the most promising. They have a track record of developing young players, giving them minutes. And they sold the project to me. “They said they really liked me as a player. I’ll come here and play. And it’s kind of panned out in the way we thought it would. “First season was always going to be a bit of an introduction season. Obviously, I had a few setbacks, a few injuries and stuff. “But I think they sold it to me well. They said, ‘Look, you come here, you’ll play. The way our team plays, the way the system plays, we’ll let you express yourself. And the league will really suit you and allow you to flourish.’ And I think that’s what’s happened so far.”Norton-Cuffy could well be an outside shout for a Three Lions call-upGettyReaction to Arsenal winning the title“To be fair, I don’t think I even messaged anyone because I know how football gets,” Norton-Cuffy said of his old club’s triumph in May.“If I message one of them, it’s all going to get lost in everything, to be fair. But I did see Myles Lewis-Skelly at the airport when I was on my way to Barbados on vacation.“I saw him in the airport, and I just had a little chit-chat, had a little catch-up. We were actually on the same flight. “We were sat like two, three seats away from each other. So we had a little catch-up, talked about the season, congratulated him on winning and stuff like that. “[It was] literally just coincidence. Just coincidence. I was sitting down in the lounge. I saw him across the table. I said, ‘Myles’. “Just big smile, big, big, big hugs. Haven’t seen him in a while.”“I spoke to Ethan [Nwaneri] as well. I spoke to Ethan briefly. But at the start, I didn’t message anyone.“I kind of just let them enjoy it. They probably got millions and millions of messages. So I just let them be a little bit.”Lewis-Skelly made 20 Premier League appearances last season en route to Arsenal winning the titleGetty‘Don’t feel like I’m too far’ from first England call-upNorton-Cuffy, who scored two goals and racked up an assist in 27 Serie A games last term, could reunite with his former Arsenal teammates on the international stage – as first tipped by talkSPORT.com earlier this year.Lewis-Skelly has already been capped six times by England, with Nwaneri training with Thomas Tuchel’s squad in the United States ahead of the World Cup.Norton-Cuffy, who won the Under-21 Euros with Nwaneri in 2025, said of a maiden senior international call-up: “I don’t feel like I’m too far. I don’t feel like I’m the closest, but I don’t feel like I’m too far. “I think football changes quickly. Anything can happen in a few months, really, in football.“You have a good couple of months, or I don’t know, the team have a setback or whatnot, and your name is the next name on the door. “So for me, I just think I have to get as good as possible and improve as much as possible, and I’ll get there. “It might take a little bit of time, but I think I’ll get there.”He was part of the England U21 side that won the Euros alongside Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri, leftGettyWorking with Vieira and De RossiDuring his time at Genoa, Norton-Cuffy has had the perfect blueprint to international stardom with two World Cup winners as managers.First, he learned under Patrick Vieira, who won three Premier League titles with his old side Arsenal as well as the 1998 World Cup.His successor, Daniele De Rossi, remains an icon in Italy for his role in Gli Azzurri’s most recent time lifting the Jules Rimet trophy in 2006. “I wouldn’t say I’m someone that gets starstruck,” Norton-Cuffy told talkSPORT. “For me, Vieira was one that I was sort of like, ‘Ooh, I’ve got Vieira as a manager.’ But I wouldn’t say starstruck.Genoa named De Rossi as manager after sacking Vieira last NovemberGetty“First day I met him, he’s a very good human being. He came, had a little conversation with me, said he knows of me, about my time at Arsenal, etc. And the same with De Rossi. “I was like, ‘Oh, we have De Rossi as manager.’ But same thing. Yes, they were great players, and yes, they’re big names, but I feel like all of them have been great people and just easy to work with and learn under; they’re people first, I’d say.“For me especially, I feel like they both gave me opportunities. They both help me out in their own ways. “I feel like with De Rossi now, we have a very, very good relationship; I feel like I’m developing under him and improving every day. “And he pushes me when he needs to push me. He lifts me up when he needs to and encourages me when he needs to, in the right moment. So I think it’s a good balance right now.”