Khvicha Kvaratskhelia Seeks Napoli Exit with Liverpool, Chelsea, and PSG Circling

Napoli star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is widely regarded as one of Europe’s most promising young players and has attracted interest from several top clubs following his standout performances for the Serie A team.

Since his move to Napoli from Russian club Rubin Kazan in the summer of 2022, Kvaratskhelia has scored 30 goals and provided 29 assists in 107 appearances across all competitions, playing a crucial role in securing the club’s first Serie A title in 33 years during the 2022-23 season.

This season, the 23-year-old has contributed five goals and three assists in 19 appearances, with Napoli currently leading the league with 44 points.

On Thursday, reports emerged suggesting that Liverpool are among the clubs interested in Kvaratskhelia, should he become available during the January transfer window amid uncertainty regarding his future.

Paris Saint-Germain has been in active discussions with Napoli about a potential deal, while Chelsea are also reportedly keen on making a move. Kvaratskhelia is under contract with Napoli until June 2027, and his transfer is expected to command a hefty fee, potentially as high as €80 million (£67 million).

Kvaratskhelia’s departure from Napoli this transfer window became more likely after Antonio Conte confirmed he intended to leave the club. The former Chelsea and Tottenham manager stated: “We are talking about an important player. Last summer I spoke to the president and I wanted to have some technical certainties by demanding the confirmation of some important players.”

“Even though he and others had asked to be sold, I worked on it and managed to keep who I wanted. [Kvaratskhelia] asked the club to be sold. I am disappointed, I realized that it was a bolt from the blue and I am taking a step back. I would never want him to think that I have chained him here if he were to stay. I did it last summer thinking of convincing him of the goodness of the project but evidently, I did not succeed. We are losing an important player.”

While Liverpool have yet to make official contact with Napoli regarding Kvaratskhelia, manager Arne Slot’s side is said to be a long-time admirer of the Serie A star.

In response to the transfer speculation linking Liverpool with a move for Kvaratskhelia, Slot commented on Friday: “When you said yourself ‘linked with,’ I was thinking: ‘Which club is he going to say now?’ But you mean as a club we are linked with Kvaratskhelia.”

“What I make of that is that this is January and I think I said it after the West Ham United game [to journalists], please don’t disappoint me, please come up with all these players and all these clubs that are in the interest of us. Or the ones that don’t play a lot for us are going to go somewhere else. That [speculation] is what is happening now.”

“And nine out of 10 times or 99 out of 100 times, at the end of the window it’s been clear that almost all of these stories weren’t true. So what can I comment about it? The rumours keep going for it but no comment from my side.”