The story of “Kvaradona”, the 22-year-old Georgian from Napoli who is compared to Diego

Some marketing guru must have pulled his hair furiously in July of last year when he heard this Naples had added to his squad a little-known footballer born in a small nation of less than four million inhabitants that hardly anyone can indicate on a globe, with the appearance of a musician grunge and a surname whose pronunciation was an (almost) impossible mission. Eight months later, if that guru is a fan of the team he dazzled at Diego Maradonawill celebrate the Georgian’s goals, magical passes and brilliant performances Khvicha Kvaratskheliaone of the main arguments in support of the dream of ending a 33-year drought without getting a shield.

Eleven goals and nine assists (more than any other player) in Serie A, in which his team marches towards the title, which are added to the two shouts and four passes on goal in the Champions Leaguein which the Neapolitans reached the quarter-finals for the first time in their history, cheering to the 22-year-old striker. But not only that: in addition to his diabolical dribbling and running, Kvaratskhelia brings a collective commitment to a team that has made the whole much more than the sum of the parts of him. This was the first thing the technician asked. Luciano Spalletti when she leaned on him.

The bet of Spalletti and the president Aurelio De Laurentiis was risky: to replace a hero like Lorenzo Insigne (he left for Toronto FC in Major League Soccer) have chosen a player who, despite being designated by UEFA as one of the 50 best young players of 2019, had never proved his worth in a major league: he had only played in your country and in Russia.

Despite his love for basketball, Kvaratskhelia chose to follow in the footsteps of Badri, his father, who was a professional footballer and came to represent the neighboring Azerbaijan national team. “I owe him a lot, starting with the great freedom he gave me in my decisions. Even though he was a footballer, he let me choose my own path.”he thanked his father, the young Khvicha, who took his first steps at Dinamo Tbilisi, with whom he made his Primera debut aged 16 before moving to Lokomotiv Moscow in 2018. After one season, he was signed by Rubin Kazan.

He was present when Russian army troops began military operations on Ukrainian territory on February 24 last year. A month later, Kvaratskhelia terminated her contract and returned to her country. In those days the DT of the Georgian national team, the French Willy Sagnol (former player of Bayern Munich, Monaco and Saint-Etienne), contacted colleagues and managers of European clubs to propose it. They all turned him down, so the striker ended up signing with Dinamo Batumi. From there Napoli took him in Julyin exchange for a negligible amount for the figures moving on the Old Continent market: 10 million euros.

The decision to move to Italy was easy for him. “Everyone in Georgia loved and loves Maradona, so thinking of my son in Diego’s team shirt, in that city and in the stadium that bears his name, was a dream come true. It was a pride for us to see Maradona’s shirt next to my son’s on the streets of Naples.”his father said in an interview published in the Neapolitan newspaper Il Mattino in November 2022.

The young man landed in the Campania capital on 6 July and seduced the fans in a very short time, who gave him a nickname as flattering as it is heavy: Kvaradonain clear allusion to the best footballer of all time. “At first it all seemed like a dream. But at some point I had to remind myself that it wasn’t a dream, but reality, and that I had to find the strength within me to live it.”revealed this week by the New York Times.

As Diego had done on 16 September 1984, the Georgian made his debut at the Marcantonio Bentegodi stadium in a duel against Hellas Verona. That August 15 his team won 5-2 and he scored a goal and assisted Pole Piotr Zielinski in another. It was the performance that sealed the love story between the Neapolitan public and the player who admired the Spanish Guti as a child (This week the former Real Madrid midfielder sent him an autographed shirt of his own) and who today cites Cristiano Ronaldo as his beacon. “I am inspired by him because he has reached the same level as (Lionel) Messi through hard work and sacrifice. I’d like to make his own career,” he explained in July.

His outburst this season has made football fans from different corners of the planet notice him (his Instagram account has 2.5 million followers, more than any other Napoli player) and became a celebrity in Georgiawhose senior side he has already represented 19 times since making his debut in July 2019 in a match against Gibraltar, having come all the way through the youth ranks.

In August, the first mural of the footballer with the Napoli shirt appeared in Tbilisi, the capital. And in December, the Aiisacondoms company launched a line of condoms whose packaging was decorated with the attacker’s image. Each unit was sold for 7.7 lari (nearly $3) and the stock sold out in the blink of an eye, despite some criticism of the initiative. “Kvaratskhelia is the most attractive man in Georgia. This is not an insult, but a compliment,” the company defended in a statement.

In every match Napoli plays at home, a good handful of Georgians present Diego Maradona with their country’s flags. They arrive there on charter flights that leave full from Tbilisi on the eve of each engagement. And in late January, the Georgia Airports Union announced it was negotiating with several airlines to ensure there was a direct scheduled flight to Naples.

These days Napoli fans are eagerly awaiting an almost inevitable consecration in Serie A, they are excited to continue advancing in the Champions League and enjoy the Kvaratskhelia game. Later they will have time to think about how their club will continue to count on the Georgian. Because his superlative performance has attracted the attention of several powerful people in Europe.

In December, while the World Cup was taking place in Qatar, a rumor spread Newcastle thought about taking him during the boreal winter market. It was even said that for this the club, which has had the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund as its main shareholder since October 2021, would have paid out 50 million pounds (58 million euros). “There is no chance we will let him go, whatever the amount of the offer”warned Cristiano Giuntoli, sporting director of Napoli.

Although the deal did not materialize, the names of the alleged applicants have since been tracked Kvaradonaincluding Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and the two Spanish giants. I like Barcelona, ​​he likes Real Madrid more. I’d like to see him one day in one of those shirts, but for now there’s nothing.”said Mamuka Jugeli, his representative, two weeks ago.

In any case, it is speculated that the club intending to have their services will have to invest 100 million euros, ten times more than what Napoli paid to bring him from Batumi eight months ago. Knowing that it will certainly make some Juventus executives uncomfortable: in 2020 the Old Lady refused to pay 20 million for his pass.