-Credit:Mondadori Portfolio/Cesare Purini
Paris Saint-Germain is reportedly unlikely to be able to meet Napoli’s asking price for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, which could allow Liverpool to steal a march on the French club.
Kvaratskhelia’s future at Napoli has become a hot topic all of a sudden, with multiple reports claiming he expects to leave the Serie A club this month.
It was claimed by The Athletic on Thursday night that Liverpool is among the clubs that are interested in signing Kvaratskhelia, but most reports have had Paris Saint-Germain down as his most likely destination.
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This is not the first time that PSG has pursued Kvaratskhelia, as RMC Sport reports that Les Parisiens tried to sign him during last summer’s transfer window but was met with a swift rejection from Napoli.
At that stage, Napoli had no intention of selling Kvaratskhelia, but that has since changed, with Antonio Conte apparently willing to offload the 23-year-old this month.
PSG decided against pursuing an alternative to Kvaratskhelia last summer, instead planning to revive its pursuit of the player during the winter transfer window.
However, Napoli is reported to want $82million for the winger, which RMC Sport says PSG would not be able to pay this month without raising significant funds from player sales.
Liverpool would also likely have to offload players this month to make room for Kvaratskhelia in Arne Slot’s squad, and The Athletic mentioned Federico Chiesa as a player who is of interest to Napoli.
Arne Slot played down links between Liverpool and Kvaratskhelia during his pre-Accrington Stanley press conference on Friday. Asked what he made of the Kvaratskhelia speculation, Slot 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! Ninety-nine 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.”