Paris Saint-Germain will have the unenviable task of replacing Kylian Mbappe in this summer’s transfer window after the France captain’s move to Real Madrid was finally confirmed earlier this month.
The 25-year-old ended his seven-year stay at the Parc des Princes by leaving on a free transfer after netting more than 250 times for the team.
His departure marks the end of the club’s ‘Galactico’ era, following the exits of Lionel Messi and Neymar, with the Ligue 1 side failing to win a first-ever Champions League title.
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Luis Enrique’s side will now move on though and the latest big-name forward to be linked is Napoli’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who has also believed to be the subject of interest from Liverpool.
Napoli and the Georgia international embarked on something of a war of words over the weekend, with the club and player’s agent hitting out at each other following a reported €100million bid from PSG.
The eye-watering reported offer was rejected, which led Kvaratskhelia’s agent, Mamuka Jugeli, to put on the record his client’s desire to leave.
"We want to leave Napoli, but now we're all waiting for the Euro 2024,” he told Sport Imedi.
"With [new manager Antonio] Conte, Napoli have big plans. I'm sure they will qualify to the Champions League again next season and fight for the Scudetto. But that doesn't mean that Kvaratskhelia wants to stay there.
"I haven't spoken with Khvicha about this issue, the most important thing for him is the national team.
"Our goal is [to join a] team that plays in the Champions League. The worst thing is that if he stays here, Khvicha will lose one year because of that... we are worried."
The Kvaratskhelia camp quickly doubled down on these quotes, with the player’s father Badri telling Sport Imedi: "I don't want Khvicha to stay in Napoli. He has worked with four different coaches in one year, this worries me a lot — he will decide for himself, although it's uncomfortable for me.
“I haven't spoken to Khvicha about this topic [and] I'm not going to until the end of the Euro 2024."
It was then the club’s turn to hit back, which they did in an emphatic statement on X, as they dug in their heels.
“In reference to the statements of Kvaratskhelia’s agent, Mamuka Jugeli, and his father Badri, Calcio Napoli reiterate that the player has a contract for another three years with the club,” they posted.
“Kvaratskhelia is not on the market. It’s not agents or fathers who decide on the future of a player under contract with Napoli, but the Calcio Napoli club!!! End of story.”
Following this flare-up, transfer journalist Fabizio Romario has issued an update on the state of play, admitting that Napoli will do all they can to keep the player.
“The interest in Kvaratskhelia is one hundred per cent confirmed,” he told The Debrief. “He’s a player they like, they want, they have already made contact one month ago to ask the conditions of the deal, and in that case, Napoli were very clear and it was not just Napoli in case of the board, manager and all the staff, it was the president himself Aurelio De Laurentiis, he was very clear on this topic. He doens’t want to sell Kvaratskhelia. He already has to find a solution for Victor Oshimen this summer.
“They don’t want to lose a player like Kvaratskhelia. Their mission is very clear - extend his contract, offer him a new contract with a higher salary, but also with a clause in a similar style to what they did with Oshiumen in January.
“Napoli will fight with this one. Napoli will be ready to try every way to keep the player at the club and the president Laurentiis is a strong president when it’s about discussing with agents, family of the players and all these kinds of situations. It’s not going to be easy for Kvaratskhelia to leave, it has to be something completely crazy and Napoli will fight to the end to keep the player at the club.”
Kvaratskhelia will be looking to put the weekend’s controversy aside when Georgia play their first game in a major international tournament on Tuesday, as they open their Euro 2024 campaign against Turkey.
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