Humble beginnings, Ronaldo & NBA – how Kvaratskhelia became a star

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has established himself as one Europe’s top creative talents.

Paris St-Germain’s electrifying Georgia winger has lit up the Champions League this season – but he retains a low profile off the pitch.

The 25-year-old has been directly involved in seven goals (four goals, three assists) in nine Champions League matches, making him PSG’s top scorer in the competition and the player with the highest overall goal contributions.

Next up for the defending European champions are Chelsea, a club who have tried to sign ‘Kvaradona’ in the past and who travel to Paris on Wednesday in the last-16 first leg.

“I consider myself a simple person,” Kvaratskhelia says in a chat with BBC Sport. “I try to stay grounded, listen to my family, and always remember who I am and where I come from.”

Kvaratskhelia’s family home in Tbilisi, where he grew up, does not announce that a global football star was raised there.

It is one of those anonymous Soviet-era apartment blocks that populate so many parts of the city: concrete, weathered, functional rather than beautiful, surrounded by identical neighbours and the everyday sounds of a working-class district.

Inside that building I met his father, Badri – a former Dinamo Tbilisi player and Azerbaijan international – and his mother, Maka, when their son was starring with Napoli.

It was a warm, welcoming home. Humble, not full of luxuries, but filled with memories. Everywhere you looked there were small mementos of his journey – photographs, trophies, shirts. Among them the first shirt he ever wore for Dinamo Tbilisi.

“Because this is where Khvicha’s professional career started. It has to be the Dinamo one,” Maka said. “His path to the top started here.”

Kvaratskhelia still uses his small bedroom whenever he returns. In one corner there is a computer table, a keyboard, large headphones and the kind of chair used by gamers.

That little world is where he disappears for hours whenever he comes home.

Born on 12 February 2001, from an early age football was inseparable from his life. As his mother recalls, he walked with the ball, slept with the ball. Football was everything, which is not to say that it was an easy path.

As a graduate of the Dinamo Tbilisi academy, he made his professional debut at 16 in 2017 before moving to Rustavi and then on loan to Lokomotiv Moscow where he would receive his first significant salary, money which allowed him to pay for life-saving heart surgery for his father.

“It wasn’t even a question to him,” said Badri.

On 22 May 2019, the 18-year-old would win his first major honour when Lokomotiv Moscow won the Russian Cup.

A move to Rubin Kazan where he would spend three seasons – and twice win the best young player in the Russian League – followed.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine brought an end to his stay, when Fifa announced on 7 March 2022 that all foreign players in Russia could unilaterally suspend their contracts until 30 June and sign with clubs outside Russia until the same date.

It would only be a brief stopover.

On 1 July 2022, Napoli signed him for a reported fee of about £9.5m.

His form for the Italian club and its fanatical support was instrumental in winning their first Serie A title in 33 years – and earned him the nickname ‘Kvaradona’.

But it was only going to be a matter of time before the really big clubs came calling, and in January 2025 Kvaratskhelia became the first Georgian to play for PSG when he joined the club for £59m plus add-ons.

The Treble followed, including PSG’s first Champions League triumph, a final in which he scored.

A direct, forward-thinking dribbler, his ability stems from his early development in tight spaces in Georgia and is refined through individual video analysis and specific change-of-direction and reaction drills.

His explosive change of direction has been achieved with targeted strength work, plyometrics and coordination exercises.

He possesses a powerful and clean strike, especially after cutting inside from the left and his confidence is built on constant repetition from a young age, specific finishing routines and strength work in the gym.

Like so many talented players of his generation he cites Cristiano Ronaldo as a reference.

He is also valued for his high defensive work-rate and – very much like Ronaldo – his competitive mentality, something that comes from an upbringing rooted in responsibility and respect.

He said: “I feel important within the group, but the most important thing is the team. Here, we all share responsibility in key moments.

“I love football so much. For me the most important thing is if the team wins and to enjoy. For me football is just my life and I just love to play and enjoy it.”

He is still learning, a work in progress, constantly aware of the need to improve aspects of his game, particularly defensively.

He credits much of his defensive improvements to former Napoli coach Antonio Conte.

It was a lesson well-learned. Luis Enrique was never going to expect anything less from him at PSG.

Since joining PSG he has naturally become associated with high-stakes matches, like the athletes he admires.

Off the pitch he is a massive NBA fan, citing Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant as two of the sporting role models he admires.

In August 2022, Kvaratskhelia revealed in an interview that he had been dating Nitsa Tavadze, a Georgian medical university student, for one year.

Their traditional Georgian marriage ceremony was held at Mtskheta’s Samtavro monastery in October 2023, and on 21 August 2024 in Tbilisi the couple’s first child – a son, Damiane – was born.

But not much more is known. He is as reserved and relaxed off the pitch as he is fearless and aggressive on it.

Those who know him best talk of a grounded, humble, private family man, a million miles away from the archetypal constructed superstar image enjoyed by so many.

His friends highlight his generosity – a trait he has always had, even during the times when he had precious little money.

Fiercely patriotic, he understands how he represents more than merely himself on the pitch, but also his position as a role model for the next generation of Georgian youth.

“It’s very important to me where I come from,” he said. “In Georgia, identity is something very strong, and I try to represent that every time I step on to the pitch.”

Georgians are known for their fierce sense of identity, pride in their culture and an almost stubborn resilience born from centuries of surviving between empires.

Kvaratskhelia embodies all that – fearless and carrying his country with him every time he runs at a defender.