Khvicha Kvaratskhelia

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgian: ხვიჩა კვარაცხელია, romanized: khvicha k'varatskhelia; born 12 February 2001, in short Kvara) is a Georgian professional footballer who plays as a left winger for Serie A club Napoli and the Georgia national team. He is considered to be one of the best young players in the world, known for his flair, dribbling and playmaking.[1]

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
Kvaratskhelia with Rubin Kazan in 2019
Personal information
Date of birth (2001-02-12) 12 February 2001
Place of birth Tbilisi, Georgia
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 Napoli
Number 77
Youth career
2012–2017 Dinamo Tbilisi
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2018 Dinamo Tbilisi 4 (1)
2018–2019 Rustavi 18 (3)
2019 → Lokomotiv Moscow (loan) 7 (1)
2019–2022 Rubin Kazan 69 (9)
2022 Dinamo Batumi 11 (8)
2022– Napoli 31 (12)
International career‡
2016–2018 Georgia U17 21 (15)
2017–2019 Georgia U19 7 (15)
2019 Georgia U21 2 (1)
2019– Georgia 20 (10)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:10, 14 May 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:09, 28 March 2023 (UTC)

Club career

Early career

Coming through the youth system, Kvaratskhelia began his senior career at Dinamo Tbilisi in 2017, making his senior debut against Kolkheti-1913 Poti, coming on as a 62nd minute substitute in a 1–1 draw on 29 September 2017. In total, Kvaratskhelia made five appearances in all competitions for Dinamo Tbilisi, scoring his first goal in a 1–0 win away to Shukura Kobuleti on 18 November 2017.[2]

Due to his performances for Georgia's under-17 team, Kvaratskhelia became the first winner of the newly introduced Aleksandre Chivadze golden medal in 2017, awarded annually by Georgian Football Federation to talented young players.[3] The following year he received a silver medal for his displays for Georgia's under-19's.[4]

In March 2018, Kvaratskhelia left Dinamo Tbilisi as a result of a contract dispute and subsequently signed for Rustavi on a free transfer.[5] In April 2018, Kvaratskhelia was the subject of interest from German champions Bayern Munich and was in attendance for Bayern's 0–0 draw against Sevilla in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final.[6] During the 2018 Erovnuli Liga season, Kvaratskhelia scored three goals across 18 appearances for Rustavi.[2]

In 2018, The Guardian named Kvaratskhelia among 60 best young players worldwide.[7]

Kvaratskhelia playing for Lokomotiv Moscow in 2019

On 15 February 2019, Kvaratskhelia joined Russian Premier League (RPL) club Lokomotiv Moscow on loan.[8] He made his league debut on 10 March as an 86th-minute substitute for Jefferson Farfán against Anzhi Makhachkala.[9] On 1 July, Lokomotiv Moscow announced that Kvaratskhelia had left the club after his loan expired.[10] Following the loss of Kvaratskhelia, Lokomotiv Moscow manager Yuri Semin said he was very disappointed after failing to agree on a permanent transfer with Kvaratskhelia as Semin considered him extremely talented.[11]

Rubin Kazan

On 6 July 2019, Kvaratskhelia signed a five-year deal with Rubin Kazan.[12] He played his first game on 15 July against his previous club Lokomotiv, coming on as a substitute in the second half and scoring the equalizer in a 1–1 draw. Kvaratskhelia was named as best player of the match by Rubin fans on the official site of the club.[13]

Overall, his purchase was hailed by several Russian media outlets as the main transfer success for Rubin, who saw the player's market value increased five times in a single season between June 2019 and June 2020.[14] Based on the votes among Rubin supporters, Kvaratskhelia won Player of the Month nomination four times in 2020–21, namely in August, September, October and April.[15]

In early 2021, L'Equipe published a list of 50 best players born in the 21st century, with Kvaratskhelia being the only RPL player to be included.[16]

Dinamo Batumi

On 7 March 2022, FIFA announced that, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, foreign players in Russia can unilaterally suspend their contracts until 30 June, and were allowed to sign with clubs outside of Russia until the same date.[17] On 24 March 2022, Rubin Kazan announced that Kvaratskhelia's contract has been suspended.[18] On the same day, he joined Dinamo Batumi of Georgia.[19]

Kvaratskhelia took part in 11 league matches with Dinamo Batumi, scoring eight times and providing two assists. Erovnuli Liga named him the best player of the second round of the season, which coincided with the period between April and July.[20]

Napoli

On 1 July 2022, Serie A side Napoli confirmed the signing of Kvaratskhelia on a deal lasting until 2027 from Dinamo Batumi for a reported fee of €10–12 million.[21][22] Kvaratskhelia's debut for the club came on 15 August, in the first matchday of Serie A against Hellas Verona; he scored and assisted in a 5–2 victory.[23] He scored twice in the following matchday against Monza on 21 August, netting his first Serie A brace in a 4–0 win.[24] Following these games, Kvaratskhelia topped the Serie A top scorers' list, becoming the first player in Napoli's history to score three goals in the two opening league matches.[25] Furthermore, he was named Serie A Player of the Month in August 2022.[26]

On 4 October, he scored his first Champions League goal in a 6–1 away win over Ajax.[27] With another goal and an assist in the return leg a week later, Kvaratskhelia was named Man of the Match,[28] and included in the competition team of the week.[29] With three goals and an assist during the month of February 2023, Kvaratskhelia was named Serie A Player of the Month for a second time, becoming the first player to win the award multiple times in the same season.[30] The next month brought him more recognition when he received another Serie A Player of the Month award, a similar trophy from Italian Footballers' Association[31] and the Serie A Goal of the Month award for a stunner scored in a 2–0 win against Atalanta on 11 March.[32]

International career

Kvaratskhelia made his debut for the Georgia national team on 7 June 2019, as a starter in a Euro 2020 qualifier against Gibraltar.[33] On 14 October 2020, he scored his first senior international goal in a 1–1 UEFA Nations League draw with North Macedonia.[34] On 28 March 2021, Kvaratskhelia scored against Spain, followed by another goal three days later against Greece.[35] On 11 November 2021, Kvaratskhelia's brace helped Georgia win over Sweden.[36]

He scored three times in four games of the first phase of the 2022–23 Nations League, and topped the list of players in two nominations, including in the overall ranking.[37] In the remaining two autumn games Kvaratskhelia added two more goals, which made him the most prolific Georgian player during this tournament. whoscored.com named him in the Best XI both in June and September and awarded him the highest seasonal rating point (8.2) among Group C team players.[38]

Personal life

Khvicha is the son of former footballer Badri Kvaratskhelia.[39] He has two brothers, and his younger brother Tornike (b. 2010) also plays football.[40][41] He has been nicknamed "Kvaradona" after the Napoli legend Diego Maradona, with both of them having very similar dribbling styles.[42][43][44][45]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 14 May 2023[46][2]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Dinamo Tbilisi 2017 Erovnuli Liga 4110——51
Rustavi 2018 Erovnuli Liga 18300——183
Lokomotiv Moscow (loan) 2018–19 Russian Premier League 7130——101
Rubin Kazan 2019–20 Russian Premier League 27310——283
2020–21 Russian Premier League 23400——234
2021–22 Russian Premier League 192102[lower-alpha 1]0—222
Total 699202000739
Dinamo Batumi 2022 Erovnuli Liga 118———118
Napoli 2022–23 Serie A 3112009[lower-alpha 2]2—4014
Career total 14034601120015736
  1. Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
  2. Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International
As of match played 28 March 2023[47][48]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Georgia 201910
202041
202174
202275
202310
Total2010
Scores and results list Georgia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kvaratskhelia goal.
List of international goals scored by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
114 October 2020Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia North Macedonia1–01–12020–21 UEFA Nations League C
228 March 2021Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi, Georgia Spain1–01–22022 FIFA World Cup qualification
331 March 2021Toumba Stadium, Thessaloniki, Greece Greece1–11–1
411 November 2021Batumi Stadium, Batumi, Georgia Sweden1–02–0
52–0
62 June 2022Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi, Georgia Gibraltar1–04–02022–23 UEFA Nations League C
75 June 2022Huvepharma Arena, Razgrad, Bulgaria Bulgaria4–15–2
89 June 2022Toše Proeski Arena, Skopje, North Macedonia North Macedonia2–03–0
923 September 2022Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi, Georgia North Macedonia2–02–0
1026 September 2022Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar Gibraltar1–02–1

Honours

Lokomotiv Moscow

Napoli

Individual

References
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  2. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia at Soccerway
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  4. "GFF AWARDS 2018". gff.ge (in Georgian). 28 December 2018.
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