Tuesday night's Champions League meeting between Bayern Munich and semi-final first leg hosts Paris Saint-Germain highlighted yet again the unbelievable talent Kvaratskhelia possesses.
The Georgian has played in Russia, Italy and now France, but never the Premier League, although there was a chance he may have ended up in English football's top flight five years ago.
Kvaratskhelia was on Leeds United's transfer shortlist ahead of the 2021/22 season, having had a hand in 12 goals for Russian side Rubin Kazan during the 2020/21 campaign.
Did Leeds really pass on opportunity to sign Khvicha Kvaratskhelia?
Leeds had spent heavily, by the standards of newly-promoted sides, the previous summer and their plan was to consolidate their position in the Premier League with only a handful of signings the summer after their ninth-place finish under Marcelo Bielsa.
While Kvaratskhelia was on the scouting team's radar, it is not clear how advanced talks were in their pursuit of the then-20-year-old Georgian - but they did take place.
Speaking to TV station Rustavi 2 at that time, Kvaratskhelia said: “Negotiations are underway with many clubs. We are already in a decisive phase.
“Negotiations with Leeds? Yes, they’ve been conducted and may resume.”
Leeds ultimately kept their powder dry, waiting until the end of the window to add a winger who had long been a transfer target: Daniel James.
The club were convinced by James' Premier League experience that, on the balance of probabilities, the Welshman would represent a smarter investment than a little-known winger in the Russian Premier League.
Kvaratskhelia did not move that summer, remaining in Russia until the country's invasion of Ukraine. FIFA regulations in 2022 permitted players contracted to Russian clubs to unilaterally suspend their deals, allowing them to join clubs elsewhere.
The winger returned to his homeland, representing Dinamo Batumi for the remainder of the 2021/22 season, scoring eight times and registering two assists.
That summer, Napoli decided to spend a reported €10-12 million on Kvaratskhelia, bringing him into Europe's major leagues at the age of 21. Leeds, meanwhile, signed the likes of Brenden Aaronson, Marc Roca, Rasmus Kristensen, Luis Sinisterra, Tyler Adams and Willy Gnonto, and were subsequently relegated at the end of the 2022/23 campaign.
Had Leeds signed Kvaratskhelia, whether it had been in 2021 or 2022, the likelihood is he would have also had a relegation loan release clause in his contract, similar to many of the aforementioned names.
While it is undeniable that 'Kvaradona', as he came to be known in Naples, would have been an affordable signing, the logic behind Leeds' approach at the time was widely regarded to be sound.
Of course, in hindsight it proves to have been a transfer misstep, one which could have seen the Georgian replicate the success of Brazilian forward Raphinha at Elland Road, who was similarly plucked from under the noses of Europe's elite.
The reality of football transfers is that talks are underway between clubs and players almost constantly, throughout the season and during summer breaks. Not every player spoken to by a club will be signed by said club; sometimes negotiating teams will deem an agent or selling club's demands to exceed what they're willing to pay, or what their budget will allow, and as a result talks peter out.
Since 2022, Kvaratskhelia has excelled in Serie A, Ligue 1 and the Champions League. He helped Napoli win the Italian title in his first season at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona and has scored a combined 54 goals for Napoli and PSG, joining the French giants in January 2025, months before their maiden Champions League triumph.
