How Kvaratskhelia would fit in at Liverpool

Stuart Telford

• 4 Nov 2022 10:09 GMT
• 3 min read

Liverpool have been linked with a move for Napoli's breakout star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. How would they line up with the player nicknamed 'Kvaradona'?

Kvaratskhelia has been a revelation this season, with his eight goals and 10 assists in all competitions firing Napoli to the top of Serie A and their Champions League Group A which also had Liverpool in it.

Kvaratskhelia wouldn't come cheap. "He's come to Napoli, he's been brilliant, and people are talking about €100 million," his agent Christian Emile told Fabrizio Romano.

READ: Who is Khvicha Kvaratskhelia? Napoli’s ‘Georgian Maradona’ set for greatness

"For me, if he continues to perform like this till the end of the season and next season, because there's a zero per cent chance they sell him [in January]. He will reach €100 for sure."

Liverpool with Kvaratskhelia?

Whether Kvaratskhelia costs Liverpool the same fee Darwin Nunez did in arriving from Benfica last summer remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure: the Georgian is a more natural replacement for Sadio Mane, who left for Bayern Munich in a €41m deal in June.

A right-footed left winger able to glide past his marker before shooting or slipping a better-placed teammate in with a through-ball, Kvaratskhelia would take what was once Mane's spot on the left of a three-man attack.

READ: Klopp has 'no intention of resigning from Liverpool' says his agent

Jurgen Klopp has dabbled with a 4-2-3-1 in recent weeks, but injuries have forced his hand. Joining Kvaratskhelia in the Reds attack next season would be Nunez, with Bobby Firmino likely leaving for pastures new, with the undroppable Mo Salah on the flank opposite.

The prospect of Kvaratskhelia combining with Thiago Alcantara and Andy Robertson down the left is a mouth-watering one, but he could also switch flanks should Salah get injured, or Luis Diaz hit a hot streak.

Liverpool plan to do further shopping next summer, with Borussia Dortmund and England star Jude Bellingham a top target, but the emergence of Harvey Elliott and the return from injury of Ibrahima Konate means that the Reds might not have to spend so big elsewhere if they decide to zero in on Kvaratskhelia.