Aurelio De Laurentiis returns to talk about the most painful transfer of recent years at Napoli : that of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the hero of the 2023 Scudetto, who ended up far from Maradona in the last winter transfer window.
In an interview with Corriere della Sera's weekly magazine 7, the Azzurri president revealed the background to the Georgian talent's departure. "I was forced to sell him," he said, "because his agent threatened to invoke Article 17," the FIFA rule that allows a player to be released from his contract by paying compensation.
De Laurentiis recalled how, already at the end of Kvara 's extraordinary first season in Serie A, the club had attempted to secure him with a suitable renewal: "We offered him a significant pay rise, because we knew that his low salary would make him a target for the big European clubs."
But agent Mamuka Jugeli – the owner says – had other plans: "He was asking for a huge commission from another club and a double-figure salary for the boy. After the European Championship in Germany, we flew to Düsseldorf to negotiate, but he kept stalling, even inventing alleged financial promises from Giuntoli that didn't exist."
I had given my word to Conte that I would keep them both.
The president then revealed a crucial step: a monstrous offer from Paris Saint-Germain. "PSG offered over €200 million for the Kvaratskhelia- Osimhen package . But I gave Conte my word that I would keep them both, and I kept my promise. In hindsight, perhaps I should have accepted."
A behind-the-scenes look that adds new details to one of the most controversial transfers under De Laurentiis: the separation between Napoli and the player who symbolized the Scudetto, influenced not only by on-field logic but above all by the strategies of agents, who are increasingly decisive in the balance of power in modern football.
It's an interesting article, but I disagree with how De Laurentiis handled the Kvaratskhelia situation. The choices he made could have been different and perhaps even better for Napoli in the long run.
I think the issue is complicated; there are many factors at play. Attorneys today often have a power that seems excessive and influences the decisions of clubs, making everything more difficult.