Fabio Capello sees shades of Premier League superstar Mo Salah in Kvicha Kvaratskhelia as the former Tottenham Hotspur target makes a flying start to life at Napoli, speaking to Football Italia.
Three goals in his first two games for the Serie A giants; Maybe life without Lorenzo Insigne and Dries Mertens won’t be quite so bad after all.
Kvaratskhelia, after a year of near-relentless speculation, joined Napoli for a rumoured £9 million in February following his acrimonious departure from a recently-relegated Rubin Kazan.
And, in the eyes of former England, AC Milan and Real Madrid boss Capello, Kvaratskhelia’s penchant for breezing past full-backs and putting away chances from wide areas is reminiscent of a certain Liverpool ace.
“Kvaratskhelia, in his movements, reminds me of a young Mohamed Salah,” Capello says.
Tottenham were snubbed by Kvicha Kvaratskhelia
If things had worked out differently, the 21-year-old Georgia international – who has also been likened to both Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery – may have been gearing up for a season under the watchful eye of Antonio Conte in North London instead.
Fabio Paratici, after trying and failing to sign Kvaratskhelia for Juventus, missed out on a long-term target at Tottenham too.
“Khvicha had a preliminary contract with Juventus. But the club’s sports director, Fabio Paratici, left. If Fabio hadn’t left Juventus, Khvicha would have moved there,” Mamuka Dzhugeli explains.
“After Paratici left for Tottenham, they (Spurs) wanted to sign Kvicha on loan but we did not agree. The player himself was against the loan.”
“Kvaratskhelia is an invaluable player for me. How much would he cost? I think Kvaratskhelia is not worth less than 50 million euros. This is my opinion and he will prove to be worth more.
“He has no ceiling, and he will only improve. I know him not only as a player but also as a person. He is a professional who would give up everything for the sake of football, for the sake of his career.”
Napoli supporters will be hoping Capello – and Dzugeli for that matter – are a reliable judge of character.
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