This is not, after all, a tale which paints his former employers in the best light. Given what Khvicha Kvaratskhelia would turn into at Napoli.
“I did throw (Kvaratskhelia to) Rangers saying; ‘Is this not somebody you could maybe look at? Get him in on loan with an option to buy?’,” recalls Moore, who now works with the 451 football consultancy firm.
“Rangers were set at that time with their recruitment and their signings. And the next minute I saw him pop up at Napoli for £10million!
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was once recommended to Rangers with the £90 million-rated Napoli winger now a target for European giants Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Former Ibrox captain Craig Moore, opening up on PLZ Soccer about the time when he recommended one of the planet’s finest attackers to Rangers long before he would became a household name, was understandably a little coy.
You are trying to get me into trouble,” Moore adds when pressed on why Rangers did not make a move for a man crowned Serie A’s Player of the Year in 2022. A winger nicknamed ‘Kvaradona’ due to his stylistic similarities to Napoli’s favourite son.
“He was quite unknown and was an exciting player, and he is having a wonderful time. He has a huge, huge career ahead of him.”
There could yet be a ‘huge’ transfer in the pipeline too.
Kvaratskhelia, in the space of just 18 months, has seen his price-tag soar from £10 million to nearly £90 million, his exhilarating performances during Napoli’s first Scudetto-winning campaign since a certain Argentine’s heyday catching the eye of Europe’s genuine A-listers (90Min).
“Kvaratskhelia plays in a top club like Napoli. But giants of world football are interested in him now too,” Willy Sagnol, the Georgia boss, explains via Football Italia.
“Like Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. Playing for these clubs is the dream for anyone. All players hope to one day wear a jersey like that and win important titles.
Rangers, it must be said, are not the only club who may be wishing they could turn back the clock. Moore admits that Southampton had tried to sign the one-time Rubin Kazan flyer via his 451 football consultancy agency. Kvaratskhelia himself, meanwhile, confirmed talks with Leeds United before moving to Italy.
Every club on planet earth has that one player who’s success elsewhere leaves supporters wondering ‘what might have been’, and Rangers are not immune to a tale as old as the sport itself.
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