Leeds United target Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has a lot in common with Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery and is capable of playing for a club the size of Bayern Munich, Russian coach Denis Bushuev has told MatchTV.
And it seems those similarities with a pair of bonafide Bundesliga greats hasn’t passed Bayern by either.
Before Kvaratskhelia was tearing defences to shreds in Russia, the Bavarian giants tried and failed to snap up a player who was, at the time, a little-known teenager plying his trade in his native Georgia.
Three years on, Kvaratskhelia is going from strength to strength, emerging as a £20 million target for clubs across the continent, from England to Italy.
The winger admitted earlier this month he had held talks with Leeds United regarding a potential switch to Elland Road.
And, should the Yorkshire giants fight off competition from the likes of Juventus and Borussia Dortmund, they will certainly hope Bushuev is a good judge of character.
Leeds in talks to sign Kvaratskhelia
“He is from the same constellation of players as Ribery or Robben,” says Bushuev, who most recently coached Russian outfit Leningradets.
“(Kvaratskhelia) could play in the top-five Bundesliga clubs. He has crazy technique.”
Speaking in May, Kvaratskhelia’s father insisted his son was “100 per cent sure” his son would leave Rubin Kazan before the end of the transfer window.
The club’s sporting director also admitted he wouldn’t stand in the 20-year-old’s way should a Premier League or Serie A club make their move.
The jet-heeled youngster produced four goals and eight assists for Rubin Kazan last season, although it wouldn’t be a surprise to find out Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa plans to repurpose Kvaratskhelia as an attack-minded left-back at Elland Road.
Hey, it worked for Gjanni Alioski.
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