Rain is expected these days in Naples, but for once the weather may not be the only factor influencing the mood of Neapolitans on a day of celebration. Because there is something big cooking and the fans are waiting for important news, perhaps to try to find their smile again after months of great difficulty. These are the days of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and a contract renewal to be discussed which could also help to understand the future objectives of the company: Mamuka Jugeli, Kvara’s agent, has been in the city since last weekend and is only waiting for a call from president Aurelio De Laurentiis to start discussing your client’s future. That he expects substantial recognition from the club after the stellar year of a year ago. And, despite the collapse of the team this season, Khvicha claims a change in status at world level: he wants a contract as a top player, as is right for someone who from one year to the next has gone from almost unknown to seventeenth place in the rankings of the Golden Ball.
The positions
—
There is great secrecy on the subject, because the negotiation is delicate even if ultimately you are playing with your cards exposed. Jugeli is in Naples, he will probably also be on the list of guests at the preview screening of the championship film. But this is just an excuse, an official pretext. In reality there is the renewal issue to be resolved in a short time, to allow the player to go and play his first historic European Championship with Georgia with high morale and without other worries. What better opportunity than this to meet and start drafting the guidelines of a new agreement? The position of the parties is known: Kvara’s entourage would like a substantial increase in salary and the starting request will be 5 million net plus bonuses. De Laurentiis is unlikely to reach those figures, but there is the desire to please the boy as much as possible to make him the cornerstone of the new technical project. So the president could offer the same amount with which he linked Osimhen to Napoli the first time: 4 million plus bonuses (perhaps easily reachable, to reach 4.5 net). Will they be enough?
Top players
—
What is certain is that Jugeli will ask the president for reassurances for next season, because keeping Kvara in Naples without cups becomes a very complex exercise, a significant sacrifice for the ambitions of number 77. However, he is linked to the blue until 2027 and therefore will not be able to pull the string too much. Kvara’s agent, however, will put Barcelona’s unbridled courtship on the negotiation table, ready to shower Khvicha with gold. And the Barça temptation could be a non-trivial obstacle in the search for a new agreement. But in Catalonia, today, they don’t have the right arguments to sit at the negotiating table and try to snatch Khvicha from Napoli: De Laurentiis evaluates the Georgian talent like Osimhen’s clause, i.e. between 120 and 130 million euros. And with three years left on his contract, he is in a strong position to dictate the terms of the game.
Trust
—
In reality, as mentioned, the Italian president has no intention of selling Kvara and therefore it is normal to think that only with an indecent offer could he open up the transfer of the team’s star in the same summer in which he will already be forced to say goodbye to Osimhen. After the failure after the championship, it would be too much for the fans – and for De Laurentiis, obviously – to say goodbye to the two main protagonists of the Italian flag. For this reason, it cannot be ruled out that in the negotiations for the renewal De Laurentiis could open up to the inclusion of a termination clause to be agreed, starting from 100 million and above. But the starting point must be the desire to move forward together, at least for another season: Khvicha is fine in Naples, dad Badri votes to stay. Now it’s up to De Laurentiis to take the field and win this match.
