Napoli chief Manna insists 'no deadline' for Kvaratskhelia contract

NAPLES, ITALY - AUGUST 25: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia of SSC Napoli celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the Serie match between Napoli and Bologna at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on August 25, 2024 in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)

Napoli director Giovanni Manna is pleased to see Billy Gilmour get his first start in tonight’s Coppa Italia tie with Palermo, but assures there is ‘no deadline’ for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s new contract.

The game kicks off at 20.00 UK time (19.00 GMT) at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

The winner of this fixture will go on to face Lazio in the Third Round of the competition.

It will be decided on the night, as if the scores are level after 90 minutes, then it goes straight to a penalty shoot-out rather than extra time.

Coach Antonio Conte has made 10 changes from the starting XI in Serie A against Juventus at the weekend, including first starts for Gilmour and Rafa Marin.

“The Coppa Italia is like a European competition for us and must be honoured, as we want to go all the way,” director of sport Manna told Sport Mediaset.

“The coach made his choices, there is faith in every element of the squad. We expect to see confirmation of what we see in training, as everyone is working well.”

Romelu Lukaku and Scott McTominay are rested, but David Neres and Leonardo Spinazzola step into the line-up.

“We tried to do our best with what we had at our disposal, bringing in a mix of players who were fully formed like Lukaku, Neres, McTominay and Spinazzola, with others who have a bright future ahead of them like Buongiorno, Rafa Marin and Gilmour.

“We could’ve maybe done a little more, but as my first session as director of sport at Napoli, it was positive.”

The transfer window is now closed, but Manna is working hard on negotiating a contract extension with Georgia international Kvaratskhelia and the talks have been dragging on for some time.

“I said it before and repeat that there is no rush. This is not a race to a renewal. He still has three years on his contract with Napoli, we are talking about it, there is no deadline and we are relaxed. We’ll see what happens over the next few months.”

There were reports over the last few days that Milan had made a last-minute approach to sign Victor Osimhen on loan from Napoli before his move to Galatasaray.

“Nobody called us,” insisted Manna.