Kvaratskhelia scored a goal and assisted, but his Serie A debut was anything but perfect.
The dream of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia finally came true. On August 15, the Georgian football player made his debut as part of the European top club, namely, he played his first official match for Napoli in Serie A. The striker even scored a couple of effective actions, so many fans perceived his debut against Verona as a clear success.
However, Khvichi’s first performance in the Italian Championship caused at least mixed feelings among specialists. According to one of the key indicators, Kvaratskhelia turned out to be the worst not only in Napoli, but among all the players of the tour!
Left with a scandal
Kvaratskhelia left Russia with a scandal. In 2019, the Georgian footballer signed a five-year contract with Rubin, so the club seriously counted on him. The striker was supposed to be one of the key players in the project of Leonid Slutsky, and for two seasons he fully lived up to expectations. In the 2019/20 and 2020/21 campaigns, he was even named the best young player of the Russian Championship!
Photo: © Alexey Eremin / Match TV
However, it was clear that until 2024 Kvaratskhelia would definitely not stay at Rubin. The football player has repeatedly said that he dreams of playing in Europe, and Khvichi’s father predicted his departure from the club last summer. Even then, apparently, the top clubs were ready to pay a tidy sum for the Georgian, but it was not possible to agree with Kazan. The striker began the 2021/22 season as the main transfer asset of Rubin and in the summer, with a high degree of probability, he had to leave him for at least 20 million euros. The Russians were quite happy with this option.
However, Rubin’s hopes were not destined to come true. In March, the player left Russia to join the Georgian national team, and never returned to Kazan. The football player took advantage of the new FIFA rule and suspended his contract with the team in order to move to Dynamo from Batumi. And already in July, Kvaratskhelia left the Georgian club for 10 million euros, signing an agreement with Napoli.
First goal for Napoli
On August 15, Kvaratskhelia played his first official match for Napoli. Khvicha entered the starting lineup for the game against Verona and showed himself in the first half. At the 37th minute, the Georgian striker closed the head of Irving Lozano’s hinged pass and equalized the score in the match. His debut goal for the Neapolitans was the team’s first goal of the new season!
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But the player did not stop there. At the beginning of the second half, Khvicha also chalked up the first assist, after which Piotr Zelinski scored the winning goal in the match. Shortly after the fourth goal of his team, Kvaratskhelia was replaced, and Napoli only strengthened the advantage, winning a convincing victory – 5:2.
Two scoring actions is certainly a remarkable result for a debut match, but these figures should not be overestimated. The Georgian had a great charge before the game and did everything to please the Italian public. But for a long time to “leave” on emotions will not work. In Rubin, Khvicha also often produced bright but short hitting streaks, which were followed by long periods of calm, when the overall quality of his game became noticeable – and raised a lot of questions. Many of them also appeared after the match with Verona.
Terrible stats for a match hero
One of the most interesting indicators here is the effectiveness of dribbling. In the RPL, Kvaratskhelia was the main dribble specialist: in the 2019/20 season he made 3.4 successful feints per match (1st place among all league players), in the 2020/21 season – 2.7 (2nd place ). However, as practice has shown, it is not as easy to deal with Italian defenders as with Russian ones, even if we are talking about a middle peasant like Verona.
On his debut, Hvicha made 8 dribbling attempts, more than any other Serie A player in the first round. And none of them were successful! This is the worst result in the league – and very symptomatic.
Kvaratskhelia also failed in two other game aspects that are important for a football player of his position – a flank striker. Firstly, the Georgian made only one successful cross per game (25% efficiency) and not a single accurate long pass. Secondly, the striker lost 12 out of 14 martial arts – just a disastrous result.
Some of these numbers may indicate that Luciano Spalletti deliberately limited the functionality of the player, adjusting to his strengths, but the overall picture still looks depressing. So far, Khvichi’s game simply does not correspond to the level of the Italian top club – stronger rivals can eat the Georgian striker alive. Kvaratskhelia does not help Napoli at all in defense and crumbles under pressure – it is not surprising that the coach ended up removing him from the game.
Of course, it is impossible to draw far-reaching conclusions on the basis of one match, but the fact remains that Khvichi’s shortcomings, noticeable back in Rubin, have not gone away. And when the first emotions subside, the player will have to seriously work on himself in order to gain a foothold in the start of Napoli.
