Where did Kvaradona go!?

He wasn't completely anonymous before last season. But even those who had heard of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia before could not have predicted the boom he made in Italy during the previous campaign - and not only in Italy. The whole football public was talking about the elusive guy who arrived at the foot of Mount Vesuvius and activated a volcano that has been dormant for more than half a century. But at that moment, everyone is wondering - where did the much-mentioned Kvaradona go?

A goal and an assist on his debut, six days later two more goals. Serie A welcomed the skinny guy from Georgia with their guard down and it took them a long time to understand how he actually came to conquer Italy. To organize a party that Naples has not seen in over two decades. And so it was. By the time the opposing teams realized that Kvaratskhelia was not joking, Napoli were already preparing a place in the showcase for their third Scudetto.

It was only in the second half of March when Luciano Spalletti's team had 19 points more than the first runner-up, and Khvicha already had a "double-double" performance - 12 goals and ten assists in Serie A. At that moment, they could have had the same performance only Lionel Messi and Neymar can boast in Ligue 1, Bukayo Saka in the Premier League and Randal Kolo Muani in the Bundesliga. Creme-de-la-creme.

Back then, Kvaratskhelia was being talked about as the next big thing in world football, no poll about the best wingers could pass without mentioning his name, and accordingly, the interest of some of the biggest clubs in the world came about, who were allegedly ready to pay a nine-figure sum for him. And Napoli fans, like everyone else who celebrate victories as well as titles, carried by the euphoria of potentially winning the Scudetto, awarded him the biggest title that a football player from a club from the south of Italy can carry. They gave him the nickname - Kvaradona, after the greatest player who ever wore their jersey and certainly one of the greatest in football history.

Khvicha became an instant Napoli legend. He had the world at his feet in those moments. He was in football heaven. However, as the proverb says - the bigger they are, the harder they fall. And Khvicha became really big. Or was he raised too high by the football public? That's why the fall was even more painful. What's worse is that it's still going on. Those 12 goals from mid-March? Kvaratskhelia maintained that number until the end of the season – enough for Serie A to name him the best player in Serie A for the competitive 2022/23 season – and barely moved from that number at the start of the new one.

Since the match with Torino on March 19 of this year, where he achieved the mentioned "double-double" performance, Kvaratskhelia has not scored a single goal. For a total of 23 consecutive games in all competitions, if we also count the matches of the national team, for which he also scored until then. For a full six months, he never appeared on the scorers list! In the assist column, one successful pass that preceded a teammate's goal, against Sassuolo in the second round of the new season. Week after week, the Italian media bombarded Rudi Garcia with questions about when Khvicha will finally wake up, while fans of the opposing teams turned the joke and started reminding the state of football when Kvaratskhelia last scored a goal. At that time, for example, Arsenal and Dortmund were the leaders in the Premier League and the Bundesliga, Manchester City still did not have a Champions League trophy in their display cases, while Chelsea's coach was Frank Lampard.

Khvicha is understandably not in the mood for jokes. So, you can forgive him because of the lack of motivation at the end of last season when Napoli already secured the title, a weak start to the new season will not be tolerated for much longer. Especially not by Rudi Garcia, which he made clear to him by bringing him on against Braga in the 65th minute, yesterday and against Bologna in the 75th. The Georgian was accustomed to Luciano Spalletti and the fact that the Italian rarely took him out of games, but there is no argument to convince him that he should be kept longer on the field.

Rudy Garcia has lost the Napoli dressing room! Osimhen and Khvicha are raging

He is really trying to end the agony once and for all, which is indicated by the statistics. The sample is small, but it says clearly: Khvicha has averaged 3.8 shots at the opponent's goal in the four previous matches in Serie A (he did not play against Frosinone), compared to 2.5, which was his average last season. Only that his excessive desire could have a counter-effect, which Garcia is aware of.

"I hope Kvara will be back as soon as possible. I spoke to him and told him that if he only concentrates on scoring goals, he will never come back. All he has to think about is playing football, enjoying it, even in defensive tasks. That's the only way to regain confidence and goals," Garcia said before the match with Bologna, but nothing changed after it either. Khvicha has been waiting for a new goal for 189 days...