This is the name: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Georgian, 21 years old. Napoli have an excellent run and are once again in pole position for the Serie A title. And Kvaratskhelia’s influence needs to be looked at more closely.
There are no more one-author teams. Not even the great Barcelona of the Messi era was a team of one-author. It was not Leo Messi’s team. Not even Leo Messi would have reached such heights (7 Ballon d’Ors!) without the shoulders of Xavi and Iniesta, without Puyol and Busquets.
Diego’s legacy
But once upon a time such teams existed, and were the norm (at least in Italy), and the most famous of them all was Napoli themselves. I hope you haven’t forgotten the name of the Neapolitans’ stadium – it’s called Diego Armando Maradona.
And it’s called that because Napoli was Maradona’s team. Maradona made Napoli Italian champions twice (at a time when winning the title in Italy was significantly harder than winning the World Cup!). He also brought back a European Cup, but even more he gave the Neapolitans back their dignity, made them dream and believe that anything is possible.
Of course Napoli were a great team, but without Maradona they wouldn’t have won anything.
In search of the lost saviour
This idea of the saviour has survived (and not just on the pitch – even more so in southern Italy). You can’t get higher than the others unless you are blessed with a saviour on your team. Others will always be richer and will always be favored – that’s how the people in the South think, and it’s probably true.
So Napoli has been looking for a savior since Maradona. For a while it thought it had found him in Insigne. But Insigne left for Canada and here comes this Kvaratskhelia. And Napoli is entitled to hope again.
Following the prophet
I even dare a prediction: Napoli will win the Serie A title when they once again have a prophet to follow. I don’t know if it will be Kvaratskhelia, but the symbolic power of a savior is too great in Napoli for any other path to lead to ‘’Il Scudetto’’.
And it’s not even about what and how this Kvaratskhelia plays, it’s about the power to make the Neapolitans hope. The title comes on the high wings of hope. In Naples, a city that thinks it’s the whole world (and maybe it’s true), things can only exist this way.
Kvaratskhelia. Is he the one so long awaited? This is the question of the 2022-2023 Serie A season.
