Fabrizio Romano has claimed that Liverpool ‘tried’ hard to sign Khvicha Kvaratskhelia from Napoli at the start of 2025, only for the winger to join Paris Saint-Germain instead.
The Reds had been strongly linked with a potential swoop for the Georgia international midway through the 2024/25 season, but instead it was Luis Enrique’s side who emerged triumphant in the transfer race.
The 25-year-old has won the Champions League twice in his 21 months in the French capital thus far, with PSG eliminating the Merseysiders on the way to both of those trophy wins, but he could very easily have ended up in red rather than navy in those clashes.
Romano: Liverpool ‘tried’ to sign Kvaratskhelia
Romano has detailed to DAZN how Liverpool pushed hard for Kvaratskhelia’s signature, but ultimately the player was swayed by the ‘very ambitious project’ at the Parc des Princes.
The transfer reporter said: “Kvara has won an incredible amount of awards at Paris Saint-Germain, but remember, it was nearly Liverpool and not Paris [who he joined].
“An inside story from January 2025, when Kvaratskhelia decided to leave Napoli, to try something new, and from Premier League there were aggressive teams really keen on signing him.
“Chelsea were calling, but was not possible to make the deal happen. Chelsea were even prepared to include Mykhailo Mudryk in the negotiation with Napoli. Liverpool were also trying. Liverpool [were] very keen on Kvaratskhelia, but the player decided to go to PSG.
“PSG presented a very ambitious project and that was very smart from PSG to sign Kvaratskhelia and for Kvara to move to Paris, but Liverpool were really there. Liverpool tried, but it was not possible to proceed.”
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Was Kvaratskhelia one that got away for Liverpool?
Could the Reds’ fortunes since the start of 2025 have been different if Kvaratskhelia had chosen them and not Enrique’s side?
It’s purely hypothetical as to whether him joining Liverpool rather than PSG would’ve tipped the scales in our favour in the two Champions League knockout ties since his exit from Napoli, but it’s not hard to imagine that he could’ve been the difference maker for the Reds in the round-of-16 tie the season before last which ended up in a penalty shootout.
Arne Slot’s LFC managed just fine initially with Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo vying for the left-sided attacking berth, but the Colombian’s exit to Bayern Munich and the Dutchman’s loss of form in 2025/26 may well have had Kopites regretting how the Kvaratskhelia pursuit ended up.
The Georgian has gone on to score 29 goals and set up another 20 in 91 games for PSG, but he won’t be adding to any of those tallies for a long time after rupturing his ACL in his team’s win over Barcelona earlier this week.
Liverpool fans might be wondering what could’ve been with the 25-year-old, but Andoni Iraola now has a plethora of left-sided attacking options in Gakpo, Rio Ngumoha, Victor Munoz and Kvaratskhelia’s former teammate Bradley Barcola.
It wasn’t to be with the Georgia international, but the Reds needn’t have any regrets, for it seems that they at least threw everything they had at trying to get him to Anfield.