No return to Russia
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (21) will apparently not return to Rubin Kazan in Russia after his interlude in his home country of Georgia. The Dinamo Batumi winger looks set to join SSC Napoli in Italy’s Serie A next season. Club president Aurelio de Laurentiis reportedly announced this in an interview with Napoli radio station Kiss Kiss, which will be broadcast in full on Wednesday evening (9pm).
Italian media have been reporting for weeks that negotiations will soon be concluded and that Kvaratskhelia will sign with the southern Italians until 2027. Napoli are to pay 10 million euros for the national player, who earns around 1.1 million net per year. The change can only be formalized from July 1st, when the summer transfer window opens. However, there is ambiguity in Russia and Georgia as to who will receive the fee.
Special transfer window: Notable players who left Ukraine and Russia
Batumi sports director Vladimer Dvalishvili said at the end of March (quoted via “football-italia-net“): “We have signed a contract with him for two years and we will see what interesting things happen in the future in the summer. He will decide where he goes.” The initial rumor was that Kvaratskhelia used FIFA’s unscheduled special transfer window for foreign players under contract in Russia or Ukraine to join Batumi on loan until the end of the season.
Dvalishvili continued: “He signed an agreement with his previous club to terminate his contract, which is why he joined us on a free transfer and will not return to Rubin Kazan.” Kazan should receive a percentage of the transfer fee.
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Transfermarkt, in turn, learned from Kazan that there were no official papers about a canceled contract, but only loose talks about it after Kvaratskhelia. Rubin even reserves the right to take legal action if FIFA does not reintroduce the right to unilaterally terminate the contract of foreign players from Russian clubs from the beginning of the coming season.
In the squad of the reigning national champions of Georgia, Kvaratskhelia stands out with a market value of €16 million, which is twice as high as the rest of the team as a whole. In four games, the left winger has already contributed four goals, scoring three times himself. In Kazan, he has scored nine goals and 18 assists in 73 games since 2019.
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