Real Madrid legend Guti: ‘I like Kvaratskhelia a lot, we talk on Instagram’

Real Madrid legend Guti opened up about his relationship with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and how it feels to be the idol of the Napoli star.

The 23-year-old Georgian winger was one of the surprises of the 2022-23 season as he played a crucial role in the Partenopei’s historic Scudetto success, directly contributing to 25 goals across 34 league matches, instantly making his €10m price tag a bargain.

Kvaratskhelia has continued to impress for Napoli this season and has been the focus of regular transfer rumours across the course of the term, linked to clubs like Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, having shared his love of the latter.

Guti on Kvaratskhelia

Speaking to DAZN via TMW, Guti gave his thoughts on Kvaratskhelia and their relationship since his international emergence.

“I like him a lot. No (haven’t met him, ed.), but we talk on Instagram. This is one of the positive aspects of social media. It doesn’t matter where you are, in a second you can connect and talk to anyone.

“After discovering that I had been one of his idols as a child, I sent him a signed shirt of mine. He ended up in the sports program I work for, from there we followed each other on Instagram and chatted a bit.”

Guti was then asked what it means to be the childhood idol of Kvaratskhelia.

“This is certainly one of the most beautiful things about football, making sure that thanks to your game, children can fall in love and start playing, and perhaps in the future become true professionals.

“And maybe big stars, as happened to him, this is really nice. We all grew up, we admired a player and in this case it’s nice.”

Despite the rumours, Kvaratskhelia is not expected to leave Napoli this summer, especially as star striker Victor Osimhen is likely to depart for around €120-130m.