Manchester City paid £100m for Jack Grealish and £60m for Riyad Mahrez, but they’ve been linked with another wide forward in Khvicha Kvaratskhelia – a Georgian international who joined Napoli for just £9m over the summer.
Kvaratskhelia has been outstanding In Italy, scoring seven goals with eight assists from 15 appearances in all competitions, and has a long list of suitors already, but Dean Jones doesn’t believe City will make a move.
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He told Give Me Sport: “If you were to look at players that have made the biggest impact across Europe this season, he’s in the top five, there’s no doubt about it. As soon as you are in that top five, then clubs like Manchester City are taking you very seriously as a prospect. It would be very exciting to see him alongside Haaland, but it might just be a little too early.”
The 21-year-old has five years remaining on his contract at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium, but it seems unlikely that he’ll see it out. Napoli may not be able to fend off interest from European giants for too long, but they’ll land themselves a tidy profit by cashing in on Kvaratskhelia.
The Georgian played for Dinamo Tbilisi (2017/18), Rustavi (2018 – 2019), Lokomotiv Moscow (2019), Rubin Kazan (2019 – 2022) and Dinamo Batumi (2022) before Napoli came knocking, so he might want to settle at one club for more than a season or two.
City are overstocked in attack with Mahrez, Grealish, Phil Foden, Julian Alvarez, Cole Palmer and Bernardo Silva able to operate out wide, so they may not make a move for a replacement unless an existing player leaves.
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