Jurgen Klopp once heaped praise on Napoli's in-demand winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia as Liverpool now emerge as a contender for his signature.
The Georgian talent caught the eye with his performance against Liverpool in the Champions League back in 2022, testing the Reds' defence and notably outwitting Trent Alexander-Arnold early on at Anfield with a cruel nutmeg. Paris Saint-Germain might be leading the race to snap up Kvaratskhelia, but it's no secret Liverpool have been trailing the forward since witnessing his impressive feats.
Despite a 2-0 victory for Liverpool on the night, Kvaratskhelia earned considerable acclaim from ex-Reds boss Klopp, who reflected on the performance at the time with a clear admiration: "He is a good player," Klopp said. "It was a really difficult one. I know people will talk about one or two situations with Trent when he tried to get in front of him and the ball goes through.
"He is really good, the boy. Really quick, we have to defend it well together in these moments. When he has the advantage of the first moment, then he is already gone.
"You have to try to be there in the moment when the ball arrives. If you cannot do that, you need to be protected because he has speed. He is cheeky, he can go inside, he goes outside, that always makes him difficult. A good player."
Although Kvaratskhelia moving to Liverpool would no doubt thrill the Kop, a switch may not be imminent. The Reds already have ample attackers, including Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota as left flank options alone, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Furthermore, Reds boss Arne Slot downplayed transfer speculation about Kvaratskhelia in a recent pre-match press conference. Upon being asked about reports linking Napoli's star player to Liverpool, Slot said: "When you said yourself 'linked with', I was thinking: 'Which club is he going to say now?'
"But you mean as a club we are linked with Kvaratskhelia. What I make of that is that this is January and I think I said it after the West Ham United game [to journalists], please don't disappoint me, please come up with all these players and all these clubs that are in the interest of us.
"Or the ones that don't play a lot for us are going to go somewhere else. That [speculation] is what is happening now. And nine out of 10 times or 99 out of 100 times, at the end of the window it's been clear that almost all of these stories weren't 'true'. So what can I comment about it? The rumours keep going for it but no comment from my side."
The potential departure of Kvaratskhelia has caught many off guard, considering his pivotal role in Antonio Conte's team. Despite this, negotiations for a renewed contract with Napoli have stalled, leading to reports that he has requested a transfer away from the club.
Napoli are supposedly holding out for a fee of over £70million, and while PSG haven't met this valuation – offering player swaps instead – Liverpool remain in the wings. The longer the forward remains at Napoli, speculation will grow that the Reds may swoop in for the sought-after star.
BenGonzags
0
Sale Nunez and Robertson, give Jayden Danns more minutes and buy a new prolific left back like Kerkezi. It's high time to give the young lads more minutes in the first team football.
bubbilopuz
0
but honestly not Liverpool have Chiesa how have same play with Kvara use the money to get Isak with any cost and add one more centre back midfielder Stefan is there to add
the fact is,its a scam,liverpool dont intend to buy the player or spend any money,they depending on luck to see the team through, mind you,they still got the over hundred million which they also use as a scam to fake buy Caicedo, do you see that money reinvested elsewhere on players?NO the only thing they're eagar to invest in is more stadium seats etc,all about money in pocket while the team deteriorate, three main players are out of contact with less than half season left,it's a shame what miserness can do,even when liverpool is the loser the management cant help their miser mentality
bubbilopuz
0
as i always say,you can know when liverpool dont intend to sign anyone, it's a recurring team,liverpool does this every window,liverpool who barely likes spending even if its necessary,always try to link their names to the biggest players who they already know has no interest in coming to liverpool like Caicedo etc,just to trick the fans to think they're actively working in the market to prevent shame face,that if the team collapses at the back end of the season due to lack of ambition and investment in the team,they use that to say they tried,the over hundred million that they use as sham to say they try to sign Caicedo is still not spent plus they made a profit from player sales last summer yet they still has no money..🤣🤣🤣 the former Sports Director took under 3 months to fully revamp our midfield,this Sport Director/Financial controller id been here over 7months and cant put a foot right,neither to extend contracts or a transfer to strengthen the team,someone said to me that liverpool know what they're doing,so i guess putting themselves at a disadvantage by allowing three top most important players to run down their contracts and leave for free is very smart business move by liverpool..🤣🤣the thing is liverpool is such a miser that even when their miserhood put them in misery and cause them to be the loser they just cant help themselves at being a miser,so now what?they're stuck in the middle of nowhere,not supporting the new coach but expect this miracle to happen, well we'll just wait and see..
Kekinpsy
3
but honestly not Liverpool have Chiesa how have same play with Kvara use the money to get Isak with any cost and add one more centre back midfielder Stefan is there to add
Kekinpsy
3
if it is possible get him for the future to replace Salah