Kvicha Kvaratskhelia is now ‘the best player in Europe’ after Premier League duo Tottenham Hotspur and Leeds United missed out on the Napoli winger, former Serie A forward Roberto Sosa tells Vikonos Radio.
Has any club had a better, more successful transfer window in recent seasons than Luciano Spalletti’s Napoli? Runaway leaders of Italy’s top flight heading into the World Cup break, all those who dared to criticise the work of director Cristiano Guintoli are notable by their deafening silence these days.
A £9 million signing from Georgian football coming in to replace the legendary Lorenzo Insigne? Talk about going from perceived madness to genuine masterstroke.
Add Kvaratskhelia to Kim Min-Jae, Andre Franck Zambo Anguissa, Giovanni Simeone and Giacomo Raspadori and you’ve got more ‘hits’ than Queen’s back catalogue.
Tottenham Hotspur and Leeds United wanted Khvicha Kvaratskhelia before he joined Napoli
Kvaratskhelia, a relative unknown prior to his arrival from Dinamo Batumi, has made such a remarkable impact in Southern Italy that his ‘Kvaradona’ nickname is actually starting to be uttered in non-ironic terms.
The one-time Rubin Kazan forward has 18 goals and assists combined in just 17 games for the Partonopei. As such, you could probably add a zero to his £9 million price-tag these days without even raising one of Carlo Ancelotti’s infamous eyebrows..
“The most important thing is that Kvara trained together with his team-mates,” says former Napoli ace Sosa; thrilled to see Kvaratskhelia back in action afte injury kept him out of the last three Serie A games.
“If the best player in Europe is fine, this is the most important news. He had back problems and it’s only right that he rested for long,.
“With Kvara at the top, Napoli – who in any case won nine points in three games without him – recovers 60 to 70 per cent of the team’s unpredictability.”
Kvaratskhelia himself admitted to holding talks with Leeds United during the summer of 2021. Fabio Paratici, meanwhile, attempted to sign his one-time Juventus target for Spurs. The velveteen Georgia international had little interest in heading to North London on an initial loan deal however.
‘The best in Serie A’
“Khvicha had a preliminary contract with Juventus, but the club’s sporting director Fabio Paratici left. If Fabio hadn’t left Juventus, Khvicha would have moved there,” his agent explains.
“After Paratici left for Tottenham, they wanted to sign Kvicha on loan but we did not agree. The player himself was against the loan.”
“He’s been by far the best in Serie A,” adds former Italy international Antonio Cassano. “Congratulations to Giuntoli. This is a phenomenon. I see Manchester City and (Jack) Grealish can’t even tie his left shoe. Kvara is phenomenal!
“He defends, he goes inside, he assists. And now he plays as he wants and has consistency during the game that one does not expect. I hope for the Neapolitans that he will stay for a long time. But I think (Europe’s biggest clubs) will knock immediately to get him.”
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