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Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s expensive move to Paris Saint-Germain closes the book on Napoli’s stunning 2023 Serie A title triumph. His departure means all of this season’s biggest stars have now moved on.
Georgian winger Kvaratskhelia became the darling of Napoli almost from the start of his incredible debut season, for a club that had begun what was ultimately a glorious season in turmoil and against a backdrop of massive fan protests.
A bargain purchase from Dinamo Batumi, few fans in Europe had heard of Kvaratskhelia before he made his debut on a sweltering August day in Verona in 2022.
They had spent much of the summer before this season berating owner Aurelio De Laurentiis over the departures of fan favorites Lorenzo Insigne, Dries Mertens and Kalidou Koulibaly.
Kvaratskhelia and Napoli’s other pre-season signings were deemed insufficient to build on the title challenge that had failed in dramatic fashion the previous April.
But that changed when they caught a glimpse of him gliding across the pitch at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi, where he scored a goal with a lovely first-time pass, setting up Piotr Zielinski.
Kvaratskhelia formed a symphonic strike partnership with Victor Osimhen and was even nicknamed ‘Kvaradona’ due to his spellbinding dribbling and goal-scoring ability.
The comparisons to Diego Maradona continued as he led Napoli to their first league title since the Argentine icon’s heyday, scoring 14 goals and assisting 17 more in all competitions.
The hope was that he could become the new symbol of an era of dominance for southern Italy’s biggest club, but the departure of coach Luciano Spalletti almost immediately after winning the Scudetto was the first crack in that façade.
– Painless exit? –
Soon, Kvaratskhelia and other key players began to eye the exit: Kim Min-jae, Koulibaly’s replacement in central defense, moved to Bayern Munich after just one season in Naples, and Osimhen was clearly eyeing a move to the English Premier League big money.
The title defense the following season was even worse than in 1949/50, when Turin lost their place as Italy’s top club after the entire team died in the Superga air disaster.
Three managers later, Antonio Conte is now in charge of rebuilding Napoli, a project that has failed to impress Kvaratskhelia despite them once again topping Italy’s top flight.
Conte said he had no interest in “keeping in chains a player who doesn’t want to stay” and in truth his departure was less painful than it would have been otherwise.
It has been clear for some time that the 23-year-old is not another Maradona figure, given his rare public speaking and the protracted, failed negotiations to extend a contract that, had he stayed, would have expired in 2027 a bad taste in the mouth.
Fans have already seen that Napoli failed to get a big transfer fee for Osimhen, who was infamously loaned out to Galatasaray last September, and PSG’s expected transfer fee in the region of a reported 75 million euros ($77 million) will help create new ones Signing players to boost their team’s recent title bid.
New signings like Scott McTominay and winger David Neres have taken to Napoli like ducks to water, and Neres’ form during Kvaratskhelia’s absence due to a knee injury suggests he may even be a better fit for Conte’s style of play.
Nonetheless, Napoli and Serie A have lost a player who scored 11 goals and provided nine assists even in last season’s epic crisis, and his departure brings down the curtain on Italy’s most romantic title triumph since the days of Maradona.
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