Liverpool-linked Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has spoken out at Euro 2024 about addressing his future at Napoli after qualifying for the Round of 16 with Georgia.
Euro 2024 has reached the knock-out stages and there are several Liverpool players still involved in the competition with Cody Gakpo, Virgil van Dijk, Diogo Jota, Joe Gomez, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate and Ryan Gravenberch all hoping they can bring success to their respective nations.
Liverpool players not involved in international competition this summer will return to pre-season next week and new manager Arne Slot will get a chance to meet up with some of his squad and get a feel for which areas could potentially need reinvestment and strengthening.
Most of the frustration last season came from the attacking threat and the amount of chances missed in front of goal, which is a concern considering Liverpool created the most chances in the Premier League over the campaign.
Darwin Nunez missed a whopping 27 big chances which was the second-highest in the top flight, while Mohamed Salah came in sixth with 19 big chances missed.
As a result, it will be imperative that Slot finds a solution to make sure the attacking threat is much more clinical going into next season, as this looks certain to be the most detrimental element to the manager’s first season in charge if it is not resolved.
It has been widely reported for the longest time that Liverpool are huge admirers of Napoli star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, and this summer could finally be their chance to snap up the services of the talented winger.
As relayed by Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano on X, the Georgia international spoke out about his future following his nation’s qualification in a shock 2-0 victory over Portugal last night:
“I respect Conte, he’s one of the best managers.”
“I also respect Napoli, I love Napoli.”
“I will decide my future after the Euros. Now I’m focused on the game vs Spain.”
Will Liverpool sign Khvicha Kvaratskhelia?
It is absolutely reasonable that Kvaratskhelia wants to delay talks about his future until he has finished competing at Euro 2024, however, his comments do give an indication as to a potential opportunity to make an offer for the player.
Valued at around £100m by the Serie A giants, the right winger might be a farfetched target for the strict spending habits of FSG, however, it would be a worthy investment for the future of the forward line on the red side of Merseyside.
Mohamed Salah’s contract is set to expire next summer and with the Egyptian turning 32 recently, Kvaratskhelia could be the solution to a long-term concern about making up for his goal contributions when he does eventually depart.
Over 34 Serie A appearances last season, the 23-year-old star – who was once dubbed “cheeky” by former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp – scored 11 goals, delivered six assists and created 11 big chances, as well as averaging 1.9 key passes, 55.1 touches, three successful dribbles and won a whopping 6.9 duels per game, as per SofaScore.
With that being said, it will be interesting to see if the Liverpool hierarchy make an approach for Kvaratskhelia this summer and whether they would be willing to invest heavily into improving the attacking threat ahead of next season.