Liverpool's tormentor on Wednesday night, who was brought to Napoli in a £9m transfer, has previously spoken about his desire to work with Jürgen Klopp.
Coming up against last season's Champions League finalists, Kvaratskhelia
was not fazed by the magnitude of his opponents. Instead, he took the game by the scruff of its neck, weaving and constantly slaloming past Liverpool players with ease. At times it felt like he was going up against mannequins.
But this was not an unusual occurrence. The 21-year-old has that elusive ability to turn his opponents into stones, and it's not the first time, Kvaratskhelia has run rings around a team.
But it wasn't just his ability on the ball, it was his energy which also caught the eye. Kvaratskhelia pressed and harassed Liverpool throughout the night, like an archetypal Jürgen Klopp attacker. He reaped the rewards of his hard work for Napoli's third goal in which his relentless pressing led to him dispossessing Joe Gomez and laying the ball across for an easy tap-in for his teammate.
In the end, when Napoli substituted him just before the hour mark, it felt like mercy to Liverpool. But while Klopp may have been relieved to see him go in that match, the Liverpool boss may want to take a further look at him with an eye for the future.
Kvaratskhelia's form this season after making the move to Napoli has been particularly exciting. Six games, two assists and four goals mean he is averaging 1.41 goal contributions per 90, and the Napoli fans have already given him the sobriquet of Kvaradona.
It is fair to say he has already paid off the shrewd investment of £9m which Napoli paid Dinamo Batumi to take him to Naples this summer. The Italian side will make a major profit on the exciting winger who has an extremely unique profile, and one that would certainly suit any club in the world, including Liverpool.
With Mohamed Salah's contract running out in 2025, at this rate, Kvaratskhelia, who was compared to Salah by Fabio Capello (as we wrote about here), seems like the perfect candidate to succeed the Egyptian at Anfield, if he continues at the same rate he is at now.
That is, of course, a matter for the future. In the present, Liverpool should be kicking themselves in the foot that they hadn't been the ones to pounce for Kvaratskhelia. Especially considering, just last year, the Georgian named Klopp as the coach he would like to work with the most in world football.
When asked about his future on Georgian Television, Rustavi 2, as per Sportsall, Kvaratskhelia said the following about his aspirations back in 2021:
"I think the most interesting thing would be to work with Jürgen Klopp. My main goal is to win the Champions League and I will do everything for it!"
Liverpool are a club that could make both of those dreams a reality for the Georgian, and while it will be difficult to prize him away from Napoli considering he is on a long-term contract until 2027, the Reds should do everything in their power in a few years time to do so — if he is still available of course, and not already plying his trade for Barcelona or Real Madrid.
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