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Antonio Conte has confirmed that Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has asked to leave Napoli after two and a half years with the club.
Kvaratskhelia has been the subject of transfer speculation this week, with Liverpool among the clubs that are interested in potentially signing the Georgia international.
“He asked the club to be sold, without mincing his words. This is what was said to me, the player has confirmed his decision to me,” Conte said.
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“Personally I feel very disappointed, because I spent six months trying to make Kvara feel at the centre of the project, working with him, showing him that we could do something great and also working with the club for six months on the renewal.
“From my point of view, it’s a great disappointment. Today I have to take a step back. I can’t keep those who want to leave tied up in chains. I did that in the summer [when Kvaratskhelia wanted to leave] and had six months to convince all the parties to find a solution.
“I realise that the news has come out of the blue, but now I am taking a step back and it’s right that the club and Kvara’s entourage resolve the situation. And so, he is not available for [Napoli vs] Verona [on Sunday]. We will see what happens. We will lose an important player, but for the meantime, let’s focus on Verona.”
Paris Saint-Germain is said to be leading the race to sign Kvaratskhelia this month, having apparently been rebuffed with an attempt to sign the 23-year-old last summer.
The Athletic reported on Thursday that Liverpool could consider a move for Kvaratskhelia, but would likely have to sell a player this month in order to facilitate the Georgian’s arrival.
The report also said that Napoli is interested in potentially signing Federico Chiesa, who has struggled for game time since joining Liverpool from Juventus.
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot was asked during a press conference on Friday what he made of transfer speculation surrounding the Reds this month, with the Kvaratskhelia and Chiesa links mentioned specifically. He responded: “What I make of that, is that it’s January. I said after the West Ham game, don’t disappoint me, please come up with all these clubs and all these players who we are interested in! 99 per cent of times at the end of the window, it ends up that all of these stories aren’t true. The rumors keep coming, but no comment from my side.”