An agent has suggested West Ham and Everton ‘didn’t trust’ an £8m star who is now one of the best players in Europe worth 10 times that amount.
West Ham and Everton fans look away now.
Football is filled with stories of clubs snubbing or missing out on young players who would go on to be world stars from Sheffield United failing to stump up £600k to sign Diego Maradona to Sam Allardyce missing out on RObert Lewandowski at Blackburn.
Well West Ham and Everton may the be subject of one of those tales in the future after the revelations of an agent this week.
If the name Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is niggling in the back of the minds of fans of West Ham and Everton it is with good reason.
The 21-year-old is one of the hottest properties in Europe as he takes Serie A and the Champions League by storm this season with Napoli.
Dubbed the ‘Georgian Messi’ in his homeland and ‘Kvaradona’ in Italy, many believe his is the emergence of a future Ballon d’Or winner.
And as any West Ham or Everton fan who follows transfer windows closely may know, their club could have signed Kvaratskhelia for a paltry £8m from Dinamo Batumi in January.
An exclusive report back in December ahead of the January window claimed West Ham and Everton were fighting to sign Kvaratskhelia.
According to Football Insider, West Ham boss David Moyes – with head of recruitment Rob Newman just a couple of months in the job – and Everton – with Rafa Benitez taking over recruitment responsibility from Michel Brands – were in a two-way battle to sign the star.
Both West Ham and Everton made official approaches ahead of the January window claimed the report.
Kvaratskhelia was said to have seriously caught the attention of Moyes and Benitez when he scored both goals in Georgia’s 2-0 win over Sweden the month before.
A “recruitment source” told Football Insider at the time that West Ham had enquired about what it would take to beat Everton to Kvaratskhelia.
But in the end reported doubts over his physicality put paid to a move to join the Hammers or the Toffees.
Now his agent suggests West Ham and Everton ‘didn’t trust’ the £8m star now one of the best players in Europe worth 10 times that.
Christian Emile confirmed reports that the Georgian was offered to a plethora of clubs. But despite him being available in the market for a reasonable price, none of the interested parties – two of which were reported to be West Ham and Everton – pressed the button on a deal to secure Kvaratskhelia.
While he did not name names, Emile’s account tallies exactly with the reports about West Ham and Everton back in January.
And he claims the clubs did not trust the youngster, who has made a breathtaking start to a new chapter at Napoli.
“I offered Kvaratskhelia to many top clubs,” Emile confirmed in an interview to Fabrizio Romano on his YouTube channel.
“They said no. They didn’t trust a Georgian guy, they missed on scouting.
Since joining the Serie A club, Kvaratskhelia has been unreal, bagging eight goals and 10 assists from 16 appearances in all competitions.
There are now rumours that European heavyweights have started closely monitoring the youngster who is now believed to be worth 10 times the amount West Ham and Everton could have signed him for.
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