Liverpool has yet to sign the wide forward which it is reportedly looking to procure this summer. And one widely reported target may now be off the table .
After Ben Jacobs (speaking to GiveMeSport ) labeled signing a forward the "number one priority" for Liverpool this summer, the clearest indication of the Reds’ desire to sign a winger was their "opportunistic" move for Newcastle winger and England international Anthony Gordon . A deal was not agreed, though, and the noise on the potential transfer has gone quiet in recent weeks.
There’s a chance the volume on Gordon might start rising though. Liverpool has also been linked with Napoli’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, whose agent publicly declared that the player was looking to leave the Serie A club. But a new story from Corriere dello Sport claims the Georgian has now performed a U-turn in that regard.
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It has reported that Kvaratskhelia is willing to sign a long-term contract. He is reportedly paid just $31k (£25k/€30k) a week so will obviously be looking for significantly improved terms.
Tripling his wages would still leave him outside Napoli’s top four earners, per FBRef . The club already has the 23-year-old secured until 2027, so any extension agreed now would presumably tie him to the 2022/23 Serie A winners for at least the next five seasons.
This would inevitably end Liverpool’s immediate interest in the 34-cap international (reported in the Evening Standard and elsewhere earlier in the summer). It was already looking like a tricky deal to complete in view of the money involved. A sale of Luis Díaz may have been needed to finance a move for a player who would have taken the Colombian’s position.
With each man the other’s top statistical match on FBRef , it’s reasonable to wonder if there would be any value in replacing one with the other. Obviously, if Díaz chose to leave, that would change that position rather significantly.
Napoli supposedly didn’t want to lose Kvaratskhelia in any case, with Victor Osimhen likelier to leave if a suitably large offer came its way. As he is paid a whopping $265k (£208k/€247k) every week, his exit would certainly aid the Georgia international at the negotiating table. That’s a lot of salary that could head in his direction, after all.
While a move to Liverpool was always something of a long shot, Kvaratskhelia’s change of heart takes a rumored target out of the running, nonetheless. It was always unlikely but might soon be nearer impossible.
Liverpool.com says: Until the new contract is signed, Kvaratskhelia remains a hypothetical option for the Reds. In the playground of the transfer rumor mill, any news deserves a degree of skepticism. Is this latest update merely an attempt by Napoli to squeeze a few more Euros out of the player’s potential suitors?
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