The Georgian who broke Serie A: Why Khvicha Kvaratskhelia could be exactly what Arsenal are missing

Napoli signed Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in the summer of 2022 for around €10 million. Within ten months, his market value had climbed to €85 million. In just a year of his arrival in Naples, the winger had helped end a 33-year wait for a Serie A title, finished as the league's top assist provider, won Serie A’s Player of the Season award, and sent Italian football into trying to figure out how to stop him.

Reports from Spanish outlet Fichajes, confirmed by multiple sources recently, say Arsenal have identified the PSG left winger as their top summer target, with the club’s hierarchy prepared to spend big to get him.

His estimated transfer value sits between €98 million and €120 million, and his contract with the Parisians runs until 2029, so it won’t be straightforward. But the noises coming from Paris suggest the 25-year-old isn’t entirely settled at the Parc des Princes, with reported internal frustration from teammates over his form and a dressing room that hasn’t quite clicked.

Kvaratskhelia himself hasn’t asked to leave, and PSG are said to be focused on extending Bradley Barcola’s deal before addressing any other winger situations. But the window, even a narrow one, appears to be there.

To understand what Arsenal would actually be getting, you may need to go back to that first Napoli season.

Kvaratskhelia was not a player who needed time to settle. He scored and assisted on debut against Hellas Verona in August 2022, became the first Napoli player in history to score three goals in his first two games for the club, and by March 2023 had produced one of the most viral solo goals Serie A has seen in years, dribbling past eight Atalanta players including the goalkeeper before finishing at the Maradona.

Former Italy international and pundit Christian Vieri compared the former Napoli man to Manchester United legend George Best. These are not the kinds of references that get thrown around casually.

Across two and a half seasons at Napoli, he scored 30 goals and set up 29 more in 109 games in all competitions. He arrived from Georgian football for pocket change and left for €80 million. PSG saw enough to hand him Kylian Mbappe’s iconic number 7 shirt when he arrived in January 2025, and in his debut half-season he was a key part of the squad that won a historic quadruple, including the Champions League.

His form this season at PSG has been the talking point that has opened the transfer window. Just nine goals and six assists in 35 appearances is a dip from his Napoli peak, and the partial minutes he’s been getting under Luis Enrique, often coming off before the hour mark, suggest a manager who is not fully convinced.

But the Ligue 1 is not Serie A in terms of the demands placed on elite forwards, and Enrique’s system at PSG asks every wide player to defend as much as they attack, which suits Dembele’s profile more naturally than Kvaratskhelia’s.

A change of environment, particularly to a league that would ask more of his attacking qualities, could be all he needs. This is where Arsenal come in.

Kvaratskhelia at Arsenal could work

Arteta’s system is built around wide players who can both create and carry the ball in behind, and the left side has been a problem that’s gone unresolved for two seasons now.

Leandro Trossard, who started the current campaign as first choice on that flank, has been inconsistent and has scored just five league goals. Gabriel Martinelli is a reliable squad option but not a starter at a club chasing titles. Noni Madueke has done well since arriving from Chelsea but is more naturally suited to the right. None of them are Kvaratskhelia, who at his best is one of the three or four most dangerous wide players in Europe.

If the rumours are true, the combination Arsenal are dreaming of is obvious. Bukayo Saka on the right, Viktor Gyokeres through the middle, and the Georgian on the left. All three are direct, all three create chances for others as readily as they take them themselves, and all three press high enough to make Arteta’s defensive structure work.

Saka and Kvaratskhelia specifically would give opposing fullbacks a decision no good team should force on them every single week. Add Odegaard pulling the strings between the lines and Zubimendi protecting behind, and that’s a team that can hurt anyone in Europe.

Arsenal have spent big once in their recent history, the £105 million on Declan Rice in 2023, and that deal still defines the outer limit of what the club considers justifiable for a single player.

Kvaratskhelia could cost around that. His representatives know his value and PSG aren’t under pressure to sell. But Arsenal are seven points clear at the top of the Premier League with eight games to go, and if they win the title this season it will be their first in 22 years.

The kind of summer statement that follows a first league championship in two decades is exactly the moment you go and sign the player you’ve been watching for years.