Kvaratskhelia celebrates scoring against Portugal - Photo: REUTERS
Like many other Georgian footballers, Kvaratskhelia came through a local football academy. At the age of 11, he joined the Dinamo Tbilisi youth academy, where he remained until he was 17.
Georgian player but developed in Russia
The scouting networks of Europe’s top clubs do not cover Georgia, a young and unproven football nation. Their national team was only established in 1990 and often plays a “paving stone” role in World Cup or Euro qualifiers.
Many Eastern European players choose Russia as a destination to develop, but Georgia is not. The two countries have been politically tense since the 2000s, leading to Georgians having negative feelings towards Russia.
Khvicha and his father - a former football player - Photo: REUTERS
Kvaratskhelia became an exception when he moved to Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow on loan in early 2019. Not long before that, this winger was listed by The Guardian as one of the 60 most notable young talents in world football. At that time, Kvaratskhelia was only 18 years old.
The Georgian midfielder made exactly 10 appearances in half a season at Lokomotiv. Head coach Yuri Semin rated him very highly, and was completely surprised when the board returned him to his parent club Rustavi.
However, the comments of Mr. Semin and the journalist of The Guardian changed Kvaratskhelia's career. In the summer of 2019, he was asked to buy by Rubin Kazan.
The transfer was quick, Rubin Kazan only had to pay 600,000 euros for this young player. Rustavi did not ask for anything more, because Georgian football is not used to exporting stars!
The early days of Kvaratskhelia in Rubin Kazan - Photo: RK
Kvaratskhelia quickly exploded at his first big club. He immediately became a regular starter and was voted the best player by Rubin Kazan fans for several months.
By mid-2020, Russian media confirmed that Kvaratskhelia was the most successful deal in Russian football in recent years. His value skyrocketed from 600,000 euros to about 15 million euros within 1 year.
At that time, the media affirmed that Kvaratskhelia was the jewel of Georgian football, the most outstanding player that this young football country had ever produced.
"The Robbery" with Rubin Kazan
But then Kvaratskhelia's career once again fell into a difficult situation. The Russia-Ukraine war broke out, causing a wave of anti-Russian protests in Georgia to intensify.
In March 2022, FIFA issued a special rule, allowing all football players playing in Russia and Ukraine to unilaterally terminate their contracts with their home clubs and leave these two countries for safety.
Many fans in his hometown called on Kvaratskhelia to return home or play in another country. He refused. Although he did not make any official statement, the winger expressed his loyalty to Rubin Kazan - the team that raised his career. At that time, Kvaratskhelia still had more than 2 years left on his contract with Rubin Kazan.
Kvaratskhelia is very popular in Naples - Photo: REUTERS
But in the following days, Kvaratskhelia and his family received threatening messages from fans. The pressure was so great that Kvaratskhelia had to make a final decision. At the end of March, he left Rubin Kazan to return to Georgia to play for Dinamo Batumi.
For Rubin Kazan, it was a real "robbery", because at that time Kvaratskhelia was valued by Transfermarkt at nearly 20 million euros. Wait a few more months, they could sell him for double or triple the price to top European clubs.
Of course, Kvaratskhelia could not stay long at Dinamo Batumi. Georgia was now just a "village pond" compared to the promising career that was opening up for this winger.
Just 3 months later, Napoli successfully bought Kvaratskhelia from Batumi. The Italian team only had to pay 10 million euros, plus 3 million euros in additional fees.
This figure is much lower than Kvaratskhelia's true value, but Batumi is not complaining. They simply benefited too much from the previous transfer, and any Georgian fan would like their favorite player to be given the opportunity to move to a top European club.
In the next 2 years, the name Kvaratskhelia, although a bit… difficult to pronounce, quickly became famous worldwide. He played extremely well with 12 goals and 13 assists to help Napoli win the Serie A championship in the 2022-2023 season.
Kvaratskhelia is one of the most technical players at Euro 2024 - Photo: REUTERS
Kvaratskhelia was so loved by the people of Naples that they nicknamed him "Kvaradona" - a comparison to the legendary Maradona.
Even when the team declined last season, the Georgia striker maintained his form with 11 goals and 9 assists in all competitions.
Kvaratskhelia has been even more outstanding in the national team. He has scored 16 goals in 33 appearances for Georgia, including 3 goals in the Euro 2024 qualifiers and most recently against Portugal.
After being pushed into difficult situations many times, Kvaratskhelia has truly risen to become a world-class superstar. Although Georgia is among the top 5 teams with the lowest player value at Euro 2024, Kvaratskhelia (valued at 80 million euros by Transfermarkt) is among the most highly rated.
Football family
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had a big advantage when he started his career, as he is the son of a former football player. Badri Kvaratskhelia was a naturalized Azerbaijani citizen and played three times for the country, before returning to Georgia to live in 2004.
After retiring, Mr. Badri started his coaching career and contributed to bringing his two sons to the path of professional football.
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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/su-nghiep-eo-le-cua-ngoi-sao-so-1-lich-su-georgia-20240628142207142.htm
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