One of the biggest emerging stories of the January transfer window is Khvicha Kvaratskhelia's status as a Napoli player.
It’s been reported that Kvaradona and his club have reached a stalemate in contract extension talks.
The Georgia international’s current deal expires in the summer of 2027.
This news has put top clubs across Europe on alert.
Still, a player of Kvaratskhelia’s talent will not be easy to prise from the Aurelio de Laurentiis-led club.
This Khvicha Kvaratskhelia data analysis will provide an overview of Kvaratskhelia’s game and explain why a move to Manchester United or Arsenal—and not the heavily rumoured PSG—would perhaps be the best next step for his career.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia Style Of Play
Total Football Analysis published an in-depth Khvicha Kvaratskhelia scouting report during his breakout 2022/23 campaign with Napoli.
In that piece, TFA analyst Lorihanna Balabanova pointed out Kvaratskhelia’s preference to get on the ball lots, carry the ball inside and take on opposing defenders with his dribbling technique lots and shoot lots.
This has remained consistent throughout his career.
Kvaratskhelia loves being heavily involved in his team’s play and commits a high volume of offensive actions during a given match.
He’s comfortable bearing the brunt of the attacking and creative burden for his side.
The Georgian winger has also performed well under pressure when given ‘star player status’.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia Data Analysis 2022/23-2024/25
This season has been a fairly standard campaign for Kvaratskhelia so far.
It’s only been his best season with regards to xA per 90 and progressive runs per 90 of the 11 metrics shown in the figure above.
However, it’s also been a better campaign for the Georgian winger in relation to goals and assists than last term, though not yet reaching the heights of 2022/23.
The playmaker has also boosted his key passing numbers this season compared to 2023/24.
However, he’s making the fewest crosses per 90, dribbles per 90 and touches in the opposition’s box per 90 of his Napoli career under Antonio Conte.
In our 2022 scout report on Kvaradona, it is emphasised that while the Georgian’s role at Napoli does, naturally, involve crossing, this isn’t a strong point in his game, and he performs better as a direct threat.
This was perhaps picked up on by new Napoli boss Conte, under whom Kvaratskhelia has increased his progressive runs while decreasing his crossing.
This has also led to more xA and key passes than last term.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia Heat Map 2022/23-2024/25
The heat maps further emphasise Kvaratskhelia’s tendency to pick the ball up wide but come inside.
He frequently occupies the left half-space or progresses to the outer left corner of the penalty box, potentially opening up space for an overlapping teammate outside him.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia Shot Maps 2022/23-2024/25
Kvaratskhelia’s highest scoring season at Napoli thus far was the 2023/24 campaign, when he also took the most shots and generated the highest xG of his career with the Serie A side, as well as the best xG per shot.
Kvaratskhelia’s off-the-ball movement and positioning to occupy dangerous goalscoring positions was at a higher level last term than in either of his other Serie A seasons thus far, leading to the slightly more impressive shot map in the middle above.
It’s worth noting that the Georgian star loves shooting from range and has done so since his arrival in Naples.
Should he move to another club, he will likely increase their goal threat by occupying dangerous positions inside the box and taking shots from long range.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia Pizza Chart 2023/24 & 2024/25
The pizza charts above show that the ‘received passes per 90’ metric shows that Kvaratskhelia was significantly more involved last season than he has been this term.
However, his level of threat has remained largely consistent over the two campaigns.
The Georgian increased his volume of dangerous passes despite making fewer passes overall in 2024/25.
Kvaratskhelia was not heavily involved in defensive phases during his time with Napoli, which could potentially cause issues depending on the defensive style of his next club and the demands they would place on him.
However, this skill can be improved quite rapidly with player buy-in.
How Does Khvicha Kvaratskhelia Compare With The Current Left-Wing Options At His Potential Next Club?
Barring a left-field move to somewhere like the Saudi Pro League or MLS, there are a handful of clubs in Europe’s top-five leagues with the resources to sign Kvaratskhelia, most of whom are in the Premier League.
However, the media’s current frontrunners for his signature are Ligue 1 giants PSG.
Perhaps they see the Napoli man as a big-name replacement for Kylian Mbappé, who left for Real Madrid last summer.
Bradley Barcola Pizza Chart 2024/25
Bradley Barcola has been PSG’s main left-winger this season and performed exceptionally well, in combination with midfielder João Neves, in replacing Mbappé’s output.
PSG’s new attacking dynamics under Luis Enrique in the post-Mbappé era are analysed in detail with our tactical analysis piece ‘here’.
Neves replaced much of the creative output lost with Mbappé’s departure, while Barcola has stepped up big time in terms of goalscoring.
Barcola is currently Ligue 1’s second-highest goalscorer with 10, averaging 0.85 goals per 90 in the league this season.
PSG remain undefeated in the league with 12 wins and four draws at the time of writing, though their domestic form has not carried over into Europe, where they’re currently outside of the UEFA Champions League’s top 24.
Still, not a lot of the blame can be pointed at Barcola and his role in the squad.
The 22-year-old Frenchman is putting up elite numbers in attacking metrics along with a very solid performance in possession metrics this season when compared with his peers from the top-five leagues.
Even if you believe Kvaratskhelia would be an upgrade, the amount he’d add to the team would be marginal and unlikely to justify the Napoli player’s high price tag, in addition to potentially stifling Barcola’s progress.
In short, we don’t think this move makes sense for PSG right now.
What about Liverpool?
Cody Gakpo Pizza Chart 2024/25
Kvaratskhelia would provide an upgrade for Liverpool’s left-side in attack, especially if he were able to return some of his attacking numbers to where they were last season compared to this season following a transfer.
In terms of creativity and ball progression, Kvaratskhelia would likely make an immediate, noticeable impact on the Reds.
With Kvaratskhelia in place of Cody Gakpo, the left side's defensive contribution would probably drop slightly.
This is another consideration for the Reds, especially considering they were Europe’s strongest side in the first half of the 2024/25 campaign.
The signing would, of course, represent a risk but the Reds would be bringing a world-class player into their ranks to give them a boost to potentially consolidate their positioning in the final stages of 2024/25.
It would ultimately come down to the money, how much of an upgrade the Merseyside club believe he’d be on Gakpo and how he compares to the more under-the-radar alternatives which Michael Edwards and his team are also undoubtedly looking at.
The winger would probably link up very well with Andy Robertson and also boost his performances on the left for LFC, providing another aspect for consideration in the ‘plus column’.
The move definitely makes more sense for Liverpool than it does for PSG.
However, it may make even more sense for Manchester United — if they could pull it off.
Marcus Rashford Pizza Chart 2024/25
The 2024/25 campaign has, needless to say, been a season to forget for Manchester United.
Now, under Ruben Amorim, the focus has to be on rebuilding and putting themselves in as strong a position as possible to hit the ground running in 2025/26.
They must do all they can to improve their position and potentially win something this season in the meantime.
UEFA Champions League qualification is still, technically, on the cards via the UEFA Europa League, and Kvaratskhelia would surely provide a massive boost to the Red Devils’ chances of winning that competition compared to Marcus Rashford, who’s having an individual season reflective of his club’s campaign.
Even with a drop-off, which could be attributed to needing time to adapt to the new club, it’s tough to see a world in which Kvaratskhelia wouldn’t immediately provide a noticeable upgrade for Man United’s left wing.
Additionally, reports have already been linking Rashford with a move to Serie A clubs — Napoli included.
If Conte’s interest in the Englishman is true, a deal that includes an outgoing Rashford could solve a couple of problems for Man United.
It would remove a disgruntled star and immediately replace him with a high-quality replacement.
Kvaratskhelia could be an excellent statement signing for new manager Ruben Amorim and provide an excellent base for the new coach to build his United team around, provided Kvaratskhelia weren’t put off by the alarming state of the Red Devils at present.
Furthermore, with our knowledge of Kvaratskhelia’s style of play and preference to dribble inside with regularity, opening up space for an overlap, as well as the fact Manchester United are reportedly on the hunt for a new left-back in January, two new signings could potentially alter United’s attacking dynamics on that wing considerably.
If Napoli are open to losing Kvaratskhelia this month, Manchester United should be exploring that possibility.
However, there is another Premier League side who should be monitoring Kvaratskhelia’s developing situation closely — Arsenal.
Gabriel Martinelli Pizza Chart 2024/25
Arsenal have primarily used Gabriel Martinelli on the left side of their attack this season, and Kvaratskhelia would be an upgrade.
With Bukayo Saka seemingly out of action for the majority of the remainder of the season, Arsenal’s right-wing has been weakened dramatically.
Signing Kvaratskhelia would bring a badly needed boost of quality to the club’s attack as they look to keep their Premier League title hopes alive despite Saka’s injury and challenge for their first UEFA Champions League.
Both short-term and long-term, this feels like a move that would make a lot of sense for Mikel Arteta to get behind, with Kvaradona likely to add goals, creativity and personality to the North London side’s forward line and raise spirits around the Emirates Stadium for the run-in.
However, it’s unlikely Kvaratskhelia’s tendency to cut inside to open up space for an overlap would be of great benefit to Arsenal in their current system, so unless they change things up tactically, that would be one way in which they probably wouldn’t get the absolute most out of Kvaratskhelia — at least initially.
Conclusion
To conclude, Manchester United and Arsenal are the clubs who would likely most benefit from splashing out on Kvaratskhelia, but for different reasons.
Manchester United need an immediate boost of quality to salvage their season and need a star to rebuild around — Kvaradona could be that man.
Meanwhile, Arsenal’s attack has been hit hard by the injury to Saka.
While Kvaratskhelia plays on the opposite wing, he’d nevertheless boost the Gunners’ attacking threat in Saka’s absence and still provide a long-term upgrade on Martinelli, all the same.
The move might also make sense for Liverpool, consolidating their league position and potentially securing European glory.
However, it certainly doesn’t feel as urgent for them, so they probably won’t want to compete with Arsenal and Man United if those clubs agree with us on how much Kvaratskhelia would improve them.
Meanwhile, current favourites for the Georgian’s signature, PSG, would probably benefit the least from his signing, though perhaps it would make sense if he were to sign and prove critical in their advancement to the next phase of the Champions League — long-term, it just doesn’t feel like a big enough upgrade on Barcola to potentially abandon that project or open the door for the Frenchman to move elsewhere.
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