During the 2022 summer transfer window, Serie A Napoli signed a relatively unknown player from the Georgian top division.
The name of this player is Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, better known as Kvara.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia: The Emergence of a Top Talent at Napoli
Interesting to mention that Napoli only paid €10m fee to sign Khvicha Kvaratskhelia from Dinamo Batuni this summer. ⭐️🇬🇪 #UCL
Smart scouting, smart signing. pic.twitter.com/St3cpqvYw8
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 7, 2022
The First Steps
Kvara is only 21 years old and has spent most of his career playing for multiple clubs in Georgia and Russia. He began making a name for himself at Rubin Kazan at the same time he started to break into the national team. Bursting onto the scene quickly, he gathered attention from the footballing world. People soon started to recognise his talent and he was selected as one of the best young players under the age of 20.
Big teams started to enquire about Kvara and Rubin Kazan knew they had a gem on their hands. They were demanding at least €20 million for his services.
However, due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Kvara’s career took an unexpected turn. He was allowed to terminate his contract with Rubin Kazan as they are a Russian club and be free to sign where he desired. Kvara decided to return back to his home country of Georgia and sign for Dinamo Batumi.
The young winger only played 11 games for the club but was an outstanding addition. He racked up eight goals in this time and showed he was a level above the competition. This once again caught the attention of big clubs around Europe; even more so now he was available for a cut price.
The Move To Italy
Kvara was eventually snapped up by Napoli for a mere €10 million.
He had big shoes to fill as Napoli lost club icon Lorenzo Insigne over the summer. They decided to buy smartly instead of blowing their entire transfer budget on a replacement.
Kvara’s potential was seen by some fans still. He was called a player to keep an eye on during 2022/23.
To the surprise of everyone, Kvara has shown he is the perfect replacement. Expectations have been completely exceeded. In his first game, he scored one goal and grabbed an assist as Napoli won 5-2. In his next game, he hit the back of the net another two times on the way to a 4-0 win. A few games later he scored the winner against Lazio.
Kvara also had the chance to play on the big stage as Napoli faced Liverpool in the Champions League. He played an outstanding game and fans all over the world have now turned their head to the Napoli star.
The Neapolitan fans have already given him the nickname “Kvaradona”. This is the highest honour he can receive from his fans.
Kvara has joined Napoli at the perfect time. As the Italian outfit move on from the era of Dries Mertens, Lorenzo Insigne, Fabian Ruiz and Kalidou Koulibaly starring in their team, they need an injection of youth.
He almost had the chance to play with Cristiano Ronaldo who was linked to Napoli. That would have been a dramatic change from playing in his native league.
His Future Outlook
In the future, the young Georgian will be hoping to elevate his country to higher levels. If he can somehow take Georgia to an international competition he will enter stardom.
Kvara, along with Victor Osihmen, can help Napoli continue to compete in Italy. However, if his play continues this way then clubs such as Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain could come after his signature.
We could be watching one of football’s next best things.
