Antonio Conte wanted to clarify things in the aftermath of the 2-0 victory against Hellas Verona.

Napoli had been in the news all week leading into the game and Conte wanted to set the record straight.

“I spoke about disappointment not towards the player, not towards the club, but towards myself, because in six months I failed to change the situation,” said Conte.

The player Conte was referring to was star winger Kvicha Kvaratskhelia, who seemingly didn’t want to hang around Naples for a further six months and gave notice to the club he wanted to leave for Paris Saint-Germain.

“I do not say Kvara or the club let me down, I always take responsibility for my actions, I don’t put it on someone else.

“I thought I could have a different impact in these six months, but I realised we were right back where we started from. I want to make that clear because I saw some headlines today saying ‘Conte let down by Kvara.’ I am not let down by Kvara,” he added.

It’s clear from Conte’s words the Georgian winger wanted to leave Naples in the summer after two seasons, yet the Italian convinced him to stay. 

After deciding to stay, it begs the question why Kvaratskhelia wants to leave the club now, halfway through the season? Napoli are currently top of the table and are lightyears away from the club that produced the worst title defence in the three-points-per-win era in Serie A in 2023-24.

Conte has galvanised the club, bringing in quality players due to his charisma and reputation. Yet none of this seems to matter to a player who, judging from the outside, couldn’t get out of Naples fast enough.

PSG stumped up the necessary amount demanded by Napoli – €70m plus add ons in the end – and the player departed the club that brought him international recognition after two-and-a-half years.

There is a sense of bitterness from Napoli fans. Even a four-minute long goodbye video dedicated to supporters appears to have done little to soften opinions.

Why leave mid-season? This is the hardest part of the transfer to comprehend, especially in light of Napoli potentially winning a second title in three years and Kvaratskhelia being an integral figure in it.

Why not stay the rest of the season, play the best football of your career and, in the process, enhance your legacy at Napoli, then leave on a high note in the summer? 

This is what footballers have done down the years (think Cristiano Ronaldo in his final season at Man United before joining Real Madrid in 2009), and this would’ve been the smart move from Kvaratskhelia. 

Napoli fans have been used to star players leaving over the years, and there likely would’ve been no ill will towards the 23-year-old had he done this.

Yet his decision to leave mid-season is head-scratching from all angles. 

From a professional perspective, the move isn’t so much a backward step but a moonwalk. PSG cannibalised Ligue 1 a long time ago, and only clashes with Marseille come close to matching the fervour and intensity seen around Serie A every week.

In Europe, PSG are further away from winning the Champions League, the holy grail in the eyes of club chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi, than ever. The French side currently sit outside the top 25 places in the mammoth league table with only two games left, and they could be out of Europe in a matter of weeks.

Like Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi before him, Kvaratskhelia looks set to leave Naples and spend the prime of his years in the backwaters of Ligue 1 and to live in a city that — while beautiful — doesn’t breathe football in the way that Naples does.

From a financial standpoint, it’s easy to see why he wants to go. Kvaratskhelia is, amazingly, one of the lowest-paid members of Napoli’s squad.

Still on the same contract as when he first joined from Dinamo Batumi in 2022, Kvaratskhelia is paid less than the likes of Rafa Marin, Billy Gilmour, Alex Meret and David Neres. In fact, Napoli have 17 players who earn more.

Yet the club did try to rectify this by offering him a new deal last summer. Reports from the time suggest Napoli offered somewhere in the region of €4m-€6m, but the deal remained unsigned.

However, it’s also true that Kvaratskhelia never hit the heights of his first six months in Serie A. An unknown quantity at the time, defenders in Italy didn’t know how to contain the Georgian, who was a throw-back to the wingers of yesteryear.

By March of the Scudetto-winning season, defences had figured him out — mostly by doubling up — and the electrifying performances that characterised the opening months of the season faded into memory.

Despite being at the ‘centre of the project’ under Conte, Kvaratskhelia’s output hasn’t been that overly brilliant. Five goals and three assists from 17 games is hardly worthy of a player now being sold for €80m. 

Napoli’s success this season owes more to the head coach and the overall strength of the team rather than the individual brilliance of a single player. Scott McTominay has added strength and balance to the midfield, while Romelu Lukaku has added goals and David Neres has added the kind of flair Kvaratskhelia used to contribute.

Defensively, Alessandro Buongiorno has been a stalwart and Conte has managed to pull some impressive performances from Juan Jesus. Kvaratskhelia’s contributions, while an improvement on last season, aren’t a major reason why the Partenopei sit atop the Italian summit.

There is a sense that Kvaratskhelia got ‘found out’ in Serie A, and perhaps Napoli are the real winners in the situation by letting him leave for a hefty fee, but only if the right replacements are signed. 

Links with Alejandro Garnacho are welcomed by fans, but whether the club will test United’s resolve with a big enough offer remains to be seen.  

Either way, it appears the love affair between Kvaratskhelia and the club is over. Despite how it ended, there’ll always be that first magical season.