Antonio Conte confirms Kvaratskhelia rumours: "he asked to leave Napoli”

Kvicha Kvaratskhelia's time at Naples seems to be reaching its end. The Georgian gem, who exploded at the international scale with the 'Partenopei', is set to bid farewell after less than three seasons as Napoli manager Antonio Conte confirmed the player has asked to leave the club in January.
Speaking during a press conference ahead of Napoli's Serie A clash against Hellas Verona, Conte said: "We are talking about an important player, last summer I talked about it with the president and urged the confirmation of important players because I wanted to be certain from a technical perspective. Although he and others had asked to be transferred, I worked on it and managed to keep those I wanted. He (Kvaratskhelia) has asked the club to leave".
The Napoli manager did not hide his frustration in failing to convince the 23-year-old to stay at the club. "I'm disappointed, it was a sudden blow and I had to take a step back. If he were to stay, I wouldn't want him to think I forced him to. I did it last summer thinking I could convince him of the club's project but obviously, it didn't work. We are losing an important player".
On the transfer market as a whole, the Napoli head coach added: "It's a difficult month, many players think they have their bags in their hands. I have a lot of confidence in this squad, I take this opportunity to say goodbye to Folorunsho and Caprile, who have asked to be transferred. I can't wait for January to end because it creates problems.


According to Fabrizio Romano, Paris Saint-Germain are leading the race for Kvaratskhelia. Liverpool were also identified as a viable destination by 'the Athletic' on Friday, however, the latest reports from the Italian transfer expert inform that the Geoegia international has agreed to terms with the Parisians. The player is expected to earn at least four times his current salary on a contract that would see him stay in France for the next five years. Negotiations between the two clubs are also progressing as reports from England suggest PSG will have to splash out around 80 million euros to land the forward.
Napoli on the other hand, are yet to explore ideas regarding a potential replacement for Kvaratskhelia. "We haven't thought about how to replace him yet, it was a total shock for us and today the most important thing is tomorrow's game against Hellas Verona"; Conte told reporters. "It's best to leave it up to the player's camp and the club to sort it out".