Real Madrid News
Serie A winger reacts to praise from Ancelotti, names two Real Madrid icons as his idols
During the period between May 2018 and December 2019, Carlo Ancelotti was the man in charge of Napoli. His spell at the Serie A side was far from his best stints and he left the Italians after 19 months for Everton.
Yet, there is still a deep sense of respect between the manager and his former side. Earlier today, Napoli phenomenon Khvicha Kvaratskhelia expressed his happiness over receiving praise from Ancelotti as revealed by Corriere dello Sport.
“Ancelotti called me special? It’s a great emotion, he made me happy & I thank him from the bottom of my heart,” the winger said.
The response comes in light of Ancelotti’s interview earlier this week where he spoke about Napoli’s strong start to the season and their game-changing summer signings. During that conversation, he has only words of praise for Kvaratskhelia.
“Kvaratskhelia surprise? He is a special player. We were already following him when I was at Napoli,” Ancelotti had said.
Further elaborating on his adulation for Real Madrid, Kvaratskhelia then revealed that both of his footballing idols were Real Madrid legends, Cristiano Ronaldo and Guti.
“Cristiano Ronaldo is my idol, even if my first one was Real Madrid’s Guti. When I played in the streets of Tbilisi, I wore a white shirt, writing his name on the back.”
The 21-year-old completed his move from Dinamo Batumi to Italy in a deal worth €10 million in July. With less than half the over, the club are already convinced they got their man on a bargain.
In his first eight games for Napoli, the Georgian international has scored five goals and provided two assists. Quite clearly, he did not require much time to adapt to his new environment.
The youngster is now on the radars of Chelsea and Liverpool given his strong performances. It remains to be seen if Real Madrid jump into the race for him eventually, especially given that Ancelotti has his eye on him.
Arda Guler’s Real Madrid stint has not gotten off to the start he would have hoped to have given the expectation that preceded the transfer.
Having joined in the summer after Real Madrid outbid their competition to win him over from Fenerbahce for a 20-million-euro fee, buzz was high as the winger was expected to slot into the team quite seamlessly, albeit on a rotational basis.
Unfortunately for the 18-year-old, he has been constantly marred by injuries since completing the move.
Reports have stated that after Guler picked up his third injury since his move, Real Madrid have been concerned and want to take things slow with the player to ensure he is fit as soon as possible after an injury to his quadriceps this time.
The Turk is yet to make his competitive debut for the club, and Real Madrid even sacked their medical chief in November, in light of their injury crises since the beginning of the season.
No loan deal for Guler
However, according to Fabrizio Romano in a recent YouTube video, he states that Madrid maintain full trust and patience in the youngster.
Despite his bad luck with injuries, the latest of which he is scheduled to return from after Christmas, the Galacticos have no intention of loaning out Guler to Turkish clubs despite lots of speculation of them doing so of late.
Romano states that Madrid remain firm on not shaking things up too much with the squad, and they want to keep their roster stable, including Arda Guler.
They want to extend their full support and protection to the player as he aims to return to full fitness and finally make his bow for Madrid either by the end of this month or in 2024.
