Liverpool are interested in signing £70million-rated Napoli star Kvicha Kvaratskhelia, whose father believes is better than Mohamed Salah.
The Georgian winger is one of the most highly-rated young talents in Europe, having been linked with some of Europeâs elite clubs since the January transfer window opened. Napoli head coach Antonio Conte revealed on Saturday that he expects Kvaratskhelia to leave this month after the 23-year-old handed in a transfer request.
That will no doubt have piqued the interest of Liverpool, who are known to be keen admirers of Kvaratskhelia, though it has been claimed PSG are currently in pole position to land his signature after offering him a contract.
However, Serie A leaders Napoli are expected to demand a fee north of £70million, which PSG are not believed to have met yet for the star whose contract runs until 2027. That means Liverpool still have a chance of signing a player who could well become their successor to talisman Salah – at least according to Kvaratskheliaâs dad.
The Georgia international’s father, Badri, was asked about the comparisons made between his son and Liverpoolâs Salah in 2023. Kvaratskhelia Sr. told Calcio Napoli 24: âItâs a wonderful comparison because Salah is a great footballer who has done extraordinary things with Liverpool and Egypt, but we like Khvicha more.
âMany say that heâs the strongest, for me, he is because Iâm the father, but hearing it from others fills me with pride.â
That is certainly a glowing endorsement and one that the vast majority of Reds fans will not accept, given Salahâs heroics at Anfield since his arrival, also from Serie A, in 2017. The Egyptian is currently at the top of his game with 21 goals and 17 assists in just 28 matches this season, though his contract is set to expire in the summer.
There is long-standing admiration for the player among Anfield bosses, even though the Reds appear well-stocked in his position with the likes of Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota all able to operate on that flank.
And Arne Slot already addressed the possibility of Liverpool signing Kvaratskhelia in a press conference this week. The Dutchman was quick to remove himself from the discussion, saying: “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 winger has not quite managed to hit Salahâs tally this season under Conte, notching just five goals and three assists in 19 games across all competitions. His season best total of 14 goals came two years ago as he helped Napoli seal their first Scudetto since 1990.
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