By Matthew Jones
June 12 2004

Alan Shearer to Genoa rumours? What a joke! And that's exactly how these rumours started - as a joke!

It turns out that the whole thing was just a joke story, which circulated Italian press and English websites on Thursday.

Speaking to local newspaper, Secolo XIX, the Serie B club's president Enrico Preziosi explained:

"It's not true. Shearer has never been in our dreams and I didn't even know of his existence.

"Sincerely, he wasn't in our plans.

"I take the responsibility for this matter. The responsibility is mine.

"Some people call me a joker and, as a joker, I joked."

Preziosi was then asked as to why he thought it would be a good idea to mislead the newspaper, to which he replied:

"After a long day had passed talking about football, I wanted to relax.

"Instead, at 10pm, I received a telephone call from my spokeswoman who asked me for news about the player.

"She told me that Secolo XIX asked for news about that presumed negotiation and I told her to say 'yes', that we had reached a three-year agreement and that he will play with Genoa.

"It seemed to me such a big joke that I didn't think they would put it on the front page!

"I'm really sorry. I apologise to the supporters for allowing this news to reach the papers.

"I didn't think it was possible to do this.

"I'm sorry for the player too."