Football’s worst-kept secret this year was that Kylian Mbappe will leave Paris Saint-Germain in the summer. The French star has announced he will depart the Ligue 1 giants and the media are trying to find out who they have lined up to replace him.
PSG are reportedly eyeing a swoop for Manchester United-linked Khvicha Kvaratskhelia as Mbappe’s replacement this summer.
In a video posted to Mbappe’s Instagram account, the 25-year-old announced his decision to leave the French capital after seven seasons at Parc des Princes.
“Hi everyone, it’s Kylian. I wanted to speak to you.
“I always said that I would speak to you when the time comes and so I wanted to announce to you all that it’s my last year at Paris Saint-Germain. I will not extend and the adventure will come to an end in a few weeks. I will play my last game at the Parc des Princes on Saturday. It’s a lot of emotions.”
Mbappe is expected to join Real Madrid at the end of the season.
According to RMC Sport, PSG manager Luis Enrique sees Kvaratskhelia as the ‘perfect candidate’ to fill Mbappe’s void. It is believed club chiefs have travelled to Italy to meet with the Napoli winger’s entourage.
The meetings went well after being described in the report as ‘positive’. In turn, this poses a threat to any other club that plans to express an interest in Kvaratskhelia this summer.
We’ve already touched on the reports linking Kvaratskhelia to United, but the 23-year-old has also attracted interest from Chelsea and Arsenal.
Kvaratskhelia signed for Napoli in 2022 from Dinamo Batumi and led the Serie A side to their first league title in 33 years during his debut campaign.
Since joining Napoli, Kvaratskhelia has 24 goals and 26 assists in 85 appearances across all competition. It’s an impressive feat and it’s no wonder PSG are ready to make him one of their biggest stars.
The player’s father recently suggested that his son would stay at Napoli, where he is under contract until 2027.
“I am so happy with Napoli’s title and that my son Khvicha contributed to winning it,” Kvaratkhelia’s father told Yahoo Sport.
“I am grateful to Italy and Naples for having welcomed and appreciated him as a person and as a footballer. He’s the only one who can choose whether to stay at Napoli, but I think he will continue wearing the Napoli shirt. In any case, I will respect his decision.”
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