SOCCER: PSG's Georgian magician Kvaratskhelia ready for another big European night

PARIS — Paris St Germain’s journey to the Champions League final has been powered by collective brilliance, but few players capture the chaos and beauty of Luis Enrique’s side better than Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

As PSG prepare for another showdown against Arsenal at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, the Georgian winger has emerged as one of the symbols of Luis Enrique’s exhilarating team, bringing improvisation and menace to a squad already brimming with attacking talent.

Long before Paris, there was Napoli.

When the Serie A club signed the then little-known Georgian from Dinamo Batumi in 2022 for around 10 million euros, fans barely knew how to pronounce his name. YouTube and TikTok videos quickly appeared to guide supporters.

Even before his first official appearance, expectations had reached legendary proportions. During his initiation ceremony, Kvaratskhelia sang Opus’s “Live Is Life,” the song forever linked in Naples to Diego Maradona’s famous pre-match warm-up against Bayern Munich in 1989. Fans immediately nicknamed him “Kvaradona.”

“I know Maradona means everything to Naples,” Kvaratskhelia said at the time. “It’s a huge responsibility to be mentioned in the same sentence.”

What followed was one of the most explosive breakthroughs in European football.

Operating from the left wing in Luciano Spalletti’s thrilling Napoli side, Kvaratskhelia tore through Serie A defenses with a dizzying mix of feints, body swerves, and sudden bursts of pace. By January 2023, he already had six goals and seven assists in 14 league games, while dominating Champions League opponents with the same fearless style.

Spalletti quickly recognized what set him apart.

“His unpredictability allows him to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary,” the Italian coach said.

That unpredictability remains central to his game today. Kvaratskhelia is not just a highlight-hunting dribbler. Nearly ambidextrous, he can attack wide or drift inside onto either foot, combine in tight spaces, or accelerate straight at defenders. He stretches defensive lines with clever positioning and movement, forcing opponents to retreat even before touching the ball.

Under Luis Enrique, Kvaratskhelia has refined his game further, adding relentless pressing and defensive commitment to his attacking freedom.

In Paris, he has become part of a collective machine rather than the sole inspiration, flourishing alongside Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele, Vitinha, and Joao Neves in a younger, more balanced PSG side.

His path to the elite was hardly conventional. Born in Tbilisi and coached early by his father Badri, a former footballer, Kvaratskhelia developed in Georgia before moving to Russia with Rubin Kazan. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, FIFA rules allowed foreign players to suspend contracts, enabling him to return briefly to Dinamo Batumi before Napoli secured his transfer.

Former Georgia coach Willy Sagnol said he had tried unsuccessfully to convince French clubs to sign him, with some executives viewing a Georgian signing as too risky or insufficiently glamorous.

That hesitation now seems extraordinary. Kvaratskhelia has evolved from an obscure signing into one of Europe’s defining attacking players, capable of turning elite matches with a single burst of speed or a flash of invention — and one day, potentially a contender for the Ballon d’Or.

-Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by David Gregorio/Reuters