Khvicha Kvaratskhelia

The season in numbers

All comps at PSG

About 24 games, 6 goals, 4 assists

Ligue 1

Locked-in starter from his second outing

Champions League

Scorer in the final, assist provider at the Emirates in the semi-final first leg

Transfer

€70M base, up to about €80M with add-ons, contract to 2029

Award

UEFA Team of the Season 2024-25

Naples, Paris, the seller and the son

At Napoli, Kvaratskhelia had been carrying since 2022 a contract signed before he became 'Kvaradona'. 1.5 million euros a year, five-year term. Eighteen months of back-and-forth with the club, his agents reportedly threatening to trigger FIFA's Article 17. Club owner Aurelio De Laurentiis eventually put it plainly: 'I had no option but to cash in.'

On January 13, 2025, Paris and Napoli agree a fee around €70 million, stretching to roughly €80 million with add-ons. On the 17th, the contract is signed through June 2029. Luis Enrique, at the presentation, flags: 'He is adapting well, I think he is ready.' That 'I think he is ready' precedes his second Ligue 1 start. You'll only see it in hindsight.

Kvaratskhelia picks up the number 7 left vacant six months earlier by Mbappé. It's neither provocation nor accident. He knows what he's doing.

The tactical ripple

The arrival of a left-winger at that level redraws the entire Paris front line. Doué, who had been rotating on the left, shifts permanently to the right. Dembélé, already being coached by Luis Enrique to read the box differently, is repositioned as a false nine. The front three that will win Munich is fixed in January: Kvaratskhelia left, Dembélé centre, Doué right.

The first public sign lands on January 25, 2025. Ligue 1 at Reims. Kvaratskhelia starts, drops deep, strings three consecutive dribbles past three defenders, lays it off to Dembélé in the box, 1-0 PSG. The match ends 1-1 but the highlight reel that night carries one name.

From February on, Paris changes face in the Champions League. The side dominates the round-of-16 first leg, survives Liverpool away, dismantles Aston Villa at home, then wins at the Emirates. On each of those nights, the left-side threat forces opposition coverage to double and opens lanes elsewhere on the pitch.

Key moments

Five moments from a January move that redirected a whole Champions League campaign.

1. 2025-01-17

   Signs for Paris

   PSG confirms the move from Napoli for €70M, up to about €80M with add-ons. Deal runs to 2029. Number 7 at the club, the shirt Mbappé left behind.

2. 2025-01-25

   Reims, assist on his first start

   First Ligue 1 start. Three cuts in one motion, lay-off for Dembélé, 1-0 PSG. The match finishes 1-1 but the tone is set.

3. 2025-04-09

   Villa, 49th minute, wonder goal

   Quarter-final first leg against Aston Villa. Kvaratskhelia dribbles past three, curling finish far post. PSG win 3-1.

4. 2025-04-29

   Emirates, assist in the 4th minute

   Semi-final first leg at Arsenal. Beats Saliba for pace, low cross to the near post, Dembélé opens the scoring in the 4th minute. PSG win 1-0.

5. 2025-05-31

   Munich, 73rd minute, first Georgian in a final

   Final against Inter. Kvaratskhelia beats Sommer in the 73rd minute on a Dembélé through-ball. 4-0. First Georgian ever to score in a UCL final.

Three strikes in four weeks

April 9, 2025, Parc des Princes. Quarter-final first leg vs Aston Villa. 49th minute. Kvaratskhelia picks the ball up in the left channel, beats one, then a second, cuts past a third, curling strike, far corner. beIN Sports files it as a 'wonder goal'. PSG win 3-1.

April 29. Emirates Stadium. Semi-final first leg against Arsenal. Paris win 1-0 through a Dembélé goal in the 4th minute. The assist comes from a Kvaratskhelia run down the left, beating Saliba for pace, low cross to the near post. CBS credits him with five tackles on 90 minutes, and the best interception and recovery numbers of any Paris player on the night. The 'pure winger' label is gone. Luis Enrique had put it on the record in The Athletic back in January, when asked about his one concern on the signing: 'We already know his technical quality. What impressed me was his capacity to adapt to the defensive work.'

May 31. Munich. 73rd minute. PSG lead Inter 3-0. Dembélé slides a first-touch ball through the middle. Kvaratskhelia, one-on-one with Sommer, drives it low across goal, far corner. 4-0. First player born in Georgia to score in a Champions League final. A country of 3.7 million people.

Kvaradona in Paris

He was born on February 12, 2001 in Tbilisi. Dinamo Tbilisi, Rustavi, a messy 2018 exit over a contract dispute with his Georgian club, a loan at Lokomotiv Moscow, two seasons at Rubin Kazan, and Napoli in 2022. There, he learns Neapolitan, wins the Scudetto in his first season, and picks up a nickname he owns: 'Even a small part of Maradona's name mixed with mine fills me with pride. So Kvaradona is definitely my favourite.'

In Paris, he speaks to the staff in English. He is picking up French gradually. His childhood idol, he told ESPN, was Cristiano Ronaldo. The paradox: he has the build, the press resistance, the game-reading of exactly the opposite profile. He accelerates with the ball at his feet, not in a straight line toward goal.

CBS Sports ran a headline in late April 2025: 'Making case as most impactful January signing in soccer history.' The argument: no mid-season signing in modern memory had mattered that much to a Champions League winner. You can argue the superlative. It is harder to argue the substance. With that level of immediate impact, his arrival can make a credible claim as one of the most decisive mid-season signings in modern football.

One detail Italian supporters caught straight away. Napoli, the side he left in January, finished 2024-25 as Serie A champions ahead of Inter. Paris, the side he joined in January, finished 2024-25 as European champions by beating that same Inter 5-0. Two titles pulled away from the Milanese club in the same calendar year, both with Kvaratskhelia wearing the winners' shirt.