Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia and Kim transfer prospects discussed by Napoli

Robin Bairner

• 16 Mar 2023 10:15 GMT
• 2 min read

Napoli have indicated that they are relaxed over the prospect of transfer negotiations for star men Victor Osimhen, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Kim Min-jae this season.

The Serie A club have been in blistering form throughout 2022/23, becoming one of the stories of European football largely thanks to this trio.

Luciano Spalletti’s side boast an 18-point advantage at the top of the Serie A standings and moved into the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Tuesday thanks to a 5-0 aggregate success over Eintracht Frankfurt.

MORE: Four cheaper alternatives to Chelsea & Real Madrid-target Kvaratskhelia

They picked up a 2-0 win on the night, which included a double from Osimhen, who is now up to 23 goals for the season in all competitions, while Kvaratskhelia chipped in with an assist and Kim anchored the backline to a seventh cleansheet in their last eight games. The South Korea star has been dubbed 'the best centre-back in the world'.

Naturally, this has attracted the interest of some of Europe’s leading clubs.

MORE: Man Utd fans: We want Osimhen over Kane

Manchester United, in particular, have been linked with Osimhen and Kim, while Chelsea and Real Madrid are both credited with an interest in Kvaratskhelia, who has been nicknamed ‘Kvaradona’ such has been the impact he has had at the club.

These are three players who will be of interest to any major European club.

Napoli director Cristiano Giuntoli, who was responsible for the summer transfer campaign that landed Kvaratskhelia and Kim for a combined €29.6 million, told Sky Sport Italia that he is relaxed about the upcoming transfer window.

“Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia and Kim's contracts to be extended? They've long term deals, we're not in a rush. We will be on it in the summer,” he explained. “We are focusing now on those whose deals are closer to expiration.”

Kvaratskhelia even better than Napoli hoped

Meanwhile, he reserved particular praise for Kvaratskhelia, who was signed for just €11.5m from Dinamo Batumi, and he even admitted that he did not expect so much from the player.

“His quality was already visible for a while, we’d been following him for three years and he was still a kid. We hoped that as the years went by, no other clubs would be ready or put up the money to sign him for what was at first the asking price. We also, unfortunately, benefited from the war that made it difficult for the Russian clubs and we stepped in,” he said.

“Our hope was to sign a great player, but he is doing perhaps even better than we expected.”