Everything you need to know about the silky Georgian sensation Khvicha Kvaratskhelia!
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia is a talented Georgian football player who was born on August 17, 2000, in Tbilisi, Georgia. The winger currently plays his club football for Napoli in Serie A and internationally represents the Georgian national team.
He started his youth career at Dinamo Tbilisi in Tbilisi, Georgia's capital, joining their academy in 2012. It did not take him long to progress through the ranks at his hometown club, where he made his debut aged 16 and quickly established himself as one of the most promising young talents in the country. He was soon snapped up by Rustavi, from whom he joined Lokomotiv Moscow on loan in 2019, winning the Russian Cup.
The 6ft ace signed a five-year permanent deal with Rubin Kazan in the Russian top-flight later that same year aged 18 and made an immediate impact. Kvaratskhelia’s debut season saw him win four player of the month awards, while he was also named in famous French outlet top 50 players born in the 21st century and his market value increased multi-fold.
Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine during the 2021-22 season, foreign players in Russia were allowed to suspend their contracts from the club and sign for any team outside Russia. Rubin Kazan stated that Khvicha’s contract had been terminated as he returned home to Georgia, joining Dinamo Batumi in March for the remainder of the campaign.
After making 11 appearances for the Georgian side, he then joined Napoli in 2022 on a long-term contract for a reported fee of €10-12m, which is a steal considering he's now valued at north of €100m after a spectacular start to life in Italy.
Indeed, he has been a huge hit since his summer move to Naples, and has taken Serie A and mainstream European football by storm, playing a crucial role during the 2022-23 season as they are cruising towards their first Scudetto in 33 years.
A whole host of big sharks are monitoring his progress at Napoli and he has already been linked with a potential move to a host of elite European clubs. First and foremost, he looks all set to make history in Naples.
Kvaratskhelia has represented the Georgian national team at various youth levels before making his senior debut in September 2019 in a match against Denmark. At 22, Kvaratskhelia already has 20 caps and 10 goals for his home country. Despite being in the early stages of his career, his fame in Georgia is already well-established. When he returns to his homeland, he is welcomed as a hero.
All in all, the Georgian sensation looks set to dominate the headlines in the coming months, but what are the 15 fun facts about Kvaratskhelia that you need to know?
Getty ImagesNicknamed 'Kvaradona'
It didn't take long at Napoli for Kvaratskhelia to earn himself a coveted nickname. He’s been dubbed affectionately “Kvaradona” after a lightning start to life in Italy; one which has captured the imagination of the football-mad city.
You see, there have been many great players to don the famous shirt, including the likes of club's all-time leading scorer Dries Mertens, local hero Lorenzo Insigne, Marek Hamsik, and Ezequiel Lavezzi. But none have been more famous – or loved by Napoli fans – than Diego Maradona, who is almost a deity-like figure in Naples.
Maradona's legacy at the club was such that after his death in 2020, they renamed their stadium after him, as he led them to their only Scudetto titles in 1986/87 and 1989/1990 in arguably the greatest underdog stories of the time, as well as the club's only European success with the 1988/89 UEFA Cup.
So to be compared to Maradona by the Napoli faithful comes with the hope that with it will bring the success the Argentine brought with him. And Kvaratskhelia has lived up to the nickname, having steered them to the brink of their first league title since the Argentine legend's heyday.
“Obviously I like the nickname,” Kvaratskhelia said in an interview. “I can’t come close to Maradona, but I will give everything to become a big player for this club.”
AdvertisementLive is life 🎤🎶
As alluded to above, you know by now that the Napoli fans call him Kvaradona. But what we didn’t tell you is that the Georgian earned that name even before he made his first outing for the Italian giants. So, during his initiation after signing with the club, Kvaratskhelia performed the famous song by Opus, .
That song was popular on its own back in the day, but it became much more well-known when Maradona danced to it on the pitch before a UEFA Cup semi-final match between Napoli and Bayern Munich in 1989.
With 70,000 fans packed into the stadium and the song "Live is Life" booming from the speakers, the Bayern and Napoli players ran out to the pitch for the pre-match warm-up. Everybody was warming up usually, then there’s Maradona just loving the beat, enjoying himself, juggling, and doing flicks at a rapid pace to match the rhythm of the song as he entertained the crowd. Even the Bayern players stopped their warmup to watch the magician do his thing.
That show he put on had a huge impact on Napoli supporters and the rest of Italy. The song has since been used multiple times in the Napoli stadium as a tribute to the great Argentinian. Kvaratskhelia, a Georgian boy, who wasn’t even born until 12 years after the famous funky warmup, then performed that song in his initiation ceremony after signing for Napoli.
Of course, that's no coincidence, and the act was always going to endear him to fans. Perhaps that was the reason that the Georgian gained his nickname after Maradona aside from the fact that his real name is just so difficult to pronounce.
Followed his footballer father's footsteps 👣
Khvicha grew up with two brothers in a close-knit family. He's the middle of the three, while the youngest brother Tornike also aspires to be a professional footballer.
Khvicha's first coach was his father, Badri Kvaratskhelia, a former Azerbaijani international football player. Maka Lukava, his mother, has been his ardent supporter throughout his career and has been nothing short of a loving parent as a former footballer.
The youngsters' love of football was clear from an early age, and his parents pushed him to pursue his aspirations, but they never had to compel him to take part in training sessions or become a footballer.
Getty ImagesThe Georgian Messi who idolizes CR7
Blessed with bags of technical talent, creative flair, an ability and confidence to dribble past defenders, comfortable with both feet, it's no wonder Kvaratskhelia has been dubbed "the Georgian Messi" by fans and journalists. His quick feet and eye for goal from distance are a sight to behold.
Despite those comparisons, it is the PSG playmaker's perennial rival that the Napoli winger idolises. He loves Ronaldo so much that he wanted to wear the number 7 shirt at Napoli. But since he was already taken by North Macedonian talent Elif Elmas, he decided to wear 77.