Chelsea and Liverpool look to face a tough battle to try and prise Khvicha Kvaratskhelia away from Napoli this summer.
Both Premier League rivals - along with the likes of Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City, to name but a few - have been linked with a potential move for the Napoli winger, who has become one of the hottest properties in European football over the last couple of seasons.
Kvaratskhelia is currently embellishing his reputation further at Euro 2024, where he scored an early opening goal in Gelsenkirchen on Wednesday night to help Georgia to a shock 2-0 win over Group F winners Portugal that teed up a high-profile last-16 showdown with Spain in Cologne on Sunday evening.
The player’s agent has previously insisted that his client wants to move on this summer, though Napoli have always been resolute in their desire to keep him at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, where he remains contracted until the end of the 2026/27 season.
For his part, Kvaratskhelia said ahead of Georgia’s meeting with Spain that he would decide his club future once Georgia’s fairytale run at their very first major tournament had concluded.
“I respect [new Napoli boss Antonio] Conte, he’s one of the best managers,” he said. “I respect also Napoli, I love Napoli.
“I will decide my future after the Euros. Now I’m focused on the game vs Spain.”
Conte made his feelings about Kvaratskhelia crystal clear ahead of that Portugal-Georgia game on Wednesday, addressing the media for the first time in an official press conference having been named as Napoli’s new head coach on a three-year deal earlier in June.
“He’ll stay. I feel no doubts,” he said. “I repeat, there is no need to have them. I have been very categorical about this. I wouldn’t even want this refrain to happen again in the future.
“The president gave this wonderful news. Kvaratskhelia is the type of player who there are fewer and fewer with these characteristics, which is why it’s not a whim to want to keep Kvara, I consider him a really strong player, like [Giovanni] Di Lorenzo.”
Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis also insisted there were no issues over Kvaratskhelia as the Serie A giants prepare to offer him a new contract, though admitted they were powerless to prevent other clubs from talking to the player.
“There are no problems with Kvara because we have a contract,” he said.
“We’ll make an offer for a new deal, so I see no problems for him. That being said, somebody can even offer contracts to the players without the club’s authorisation.”
