Last year, Naples lit up and rejoiced in a way unseen for a generation. For those Neapolitans who reminisced about the days of the legendary Diego Maradona, this was the closest they got to those magical days. With the unbridled joy and never-ending rejoicing in the streets, and relief over their first Serie A title in over 30 years, it felt like the spirit of the legendary Argentinian was guiding the city to glory once again. With many incredible talents throughout the squad, it’s a magical time to support Napoli.
King Victor
If you were to sit down with Napoli fans and ask them who their best player is, although there’s a lot of love for about half a dozen of their top names, it boils down to two players: Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Osimhen has achieved iconic cult status in Naples, with an incredible strike rate and 26 goals in Serie A last season.
This undoubtedly helped the team spearhead their exponential rise to the top of Italian football. There’s no doubt among Italian fans and journalists that Osimhen is quite comfortably the best striker in the league. He was the favourite with the sports betting companies to win the Golden Boot at the start of the season, and he delivered emphatically. However, Napoli were not favourites to win the league based on the sports betting odds at the beginning of the season, which made their rise to the zenith of Italian football so special.
If the talismanic Nigerian can stay in Naples for another year, they could make a run at the Champions League. The current sports betting odds have them favourites to win Serie A again, but this is wholly dependent on whether they keep hold of their two magical talents in Victor and Khvicha. Given that Inter Milan managed to get to the final last year, narrowly losing to the best team in Europe after an all-Italian semifinal, Napoli will be optimistic that the same fortune could befall them, given they bested both Milan clubs domestically last year.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
Georgia’s generational talent was Osimhen’s partner in crime last year. After winning the league’s best player award and having been voted the best young player in the Champions League, he has now been dubbed ‘Kvaradona’ by the adoring Neapolitan faithful due to his wizardry on the pitch and his incredible technical ability drawing comparisons to the King of Naples – Diego Maradona.
However, with the world’s richest club sniffing around and looking to entice the 22-year-old Georgian winger to North East England, Napoli fans will be concerned that their once-in-a-generation team is in danger of being dismantled. It would be sad to witness Napoli’s brilliant 2023 title-winning team, which results from years of planning, being taken apart by big-money teams in England that can pick and choose whoever they want without doing any of the development. However, this is, unfortunately, where the modern game is – especially in England. With a £90 million bid recently rejected, Newcastle will likely be able to bring him on board if their heart is set on it and they go in with a fresh offer.
Victor vs Kvaradona – the verdict
Both players are indispensable and integral to the success of Napoli. If they lose either of them this summer, it will come as a gigantic blow but we would get a definitive answer to the question posed in today’s article. Although Victor is a couple of years older than Khvicha, his goal tally and ability to score in the big games have made him a bigger talisman, and he would likely be a more significant loss. It is harder to replace a player who scores 26 goals than a tricky winger, despite Khvicha’s precocious ability.
If the Georgian leaves Napoli, you’d think he would command a fee of around £120 million. Osimhen, on the other hand, would likely command a higher amount. Although Khvicha is considered the best player in Serie A, plenty of fans argue that Osimhen is the best striker on the planet. This is high praise indeed, and it shows why clubs like PSG, Real Madrid and Manchester City have kept a keen eye on the Nigerian forward, with a potential view of acquiring his services later. They’re probably part of a select group of teams that could afford him and turn his head.
Napoli fans will be the first to say that it is a team game, and although no individual player is bigger than the club, if they lost either of these two players, it’d be very challenging to replace either of them.
