In football, transfers are differentiated into several categories. And one of the categories that every club wants to be a part of is a ‘transfer coup’. Signing a player, whether known or unknown, at the biggest stage at a low fee before he goes on to justify that price many times over is a sight to behold. Think of a free Robert Lewandowski signed by Bayern Munich or the €7.5 million Real Madrid spent signing Casemiro, who won 18 titles. For this season, Napoli’s Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has definitely been the ‘transfer coup’ signing.
Signed for only €10 million, Kvaratskhelia has become one of the best European attackers, showcasing his talent in both Serie A and UEFA Champions League. Within six months, his transfer value has shot up from €10 million to €60 million, according to Transfermarkt. However, it is safe to say that Napoli will not even listen to an offer of less than €100 million.
The Georgian was signed to replace club legend Lorenzo Insigne who scored 149 goals and provided 95 assists across 434 games. And judging by his initial performances, he has proved to be more than a capable successor for Il Magnifico.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia career stats
Before this season, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was considered one of the most talented players that come out every year in football. However, his career hit a bump as he had to leave Rubin Kazan after Russia invaded Ukraine. He returned to Georgia playing four months with Dinamo Batumi before Napoli snapped him up.
And the youngster took no time in adapting to the team’s demand scoring one and providing one assist in his debut for the club in Serie A against Hellas Verona before scoring a brace against Monza in the next match.
Currently, he has scored eight goals and provided nine assists in Serie A, along with two goals and three assists in UEFA Champions League. Kvaratskhelia’s nine assists stats are impressive when he was only expected to provide only 4.35 assists according to the xA model.
The Georgian excels both at passing and making chances through dribbling. This is backed by the fact that he is the third most dangerous player on the pitch in Expected Threats (xT) from carries. In addition, he has also made the fourth-most successful dribbles in the league.
What makes him special is that he is an equally good goal-scorer and creator in the attacking third. According to fbref, he is among the top one percentile of attackers in scoring and creating goals. He also…
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