Kvaratskhelia, from Georgia to PSG, through the eyes of his coaches | OneFootball

According to L'Équipe, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, 25, rose from Georgia and Russia to join PSG in January 2025. The 49-cap international, with 22 goals, has been central to a major European run, shaped by a work-first upbringing.

As a teenager at Dinamo Tbilisi then FC Rustavi, he moved to Lokomotiv Moscow at 17 after persistent agent lobbying. Former coach Yuri Semin recalls unusual dribbling and sharp vision for the next pass or run.

His father Badri backed the move, compatriot Solomon Kvirkvelia helped, and he lived at the training base. He constantly added extra drills. Leonid Slutskyi said football felt like Disneyland to him, the occasion or money scarcely mattered.

Rubin paid €600,000 in summer 2019 after 10 outings and a Russian Cup at Lokomotiv. Slutskyi saw a two-footed dribbler, pushed him to prioritise goals over aesthetics, and hardened him mentally, including a knock he played through after being challenged.

He absorbed from each stop, Semin says, finding elite rhythm at Lokomotiv, heft at Rubin, then idol status at Dinamo Batoumi. In March 2022, after the invasion of Ukraine, FIFA allowed exits, Rubin lost eight players, and he left for family reasons, returning to Georgia before joining Napoli two months later.

Former Georgia boss Vladimir Weiss calls him the best in the world in his position, praising his one-v-one threat and noting only his son Vladimir compares among his charges. He still rues the 0-1 Euro play-off defeat to North Macedonia in November 2020, when Covid kept Kvaratskhelia out.

Source: L'Équipe