Scout reveals why Arsenal rejected Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and signed £3m flop instead
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has hit the ground running following his January move to PSG (ABACA/Shutterstock) Former Arsenal scout Tomasz Pasieczny has revealed that the Gunners rejected the chance to sign Paris Saint-Germain winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in 2022. Kvaratskhelia came through Dinamo Tbilisi’s academy and ended up playing in Russia’s top flight in 2019, initially on loan with Lokomotiv Moscow before he joined Rubin Kazan that summer. The Georgia international returned to his homeland following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by signing for Dinamo Batumi before he was quickly snapped up by Napoli for just €13.3 million (£11.3m) in the summer of 2022. Kvaratskhelia made an immediate impact at Napoli and played a key role in their Serie A title success the following year. In the January transfer window, Paris Saint-Germain signed Kvaratskheliafrom Napoli for €70m (£59m) and the 24-year-old has once again showed why he is one of Europe’s standout wingers. Get personalised updates on Arsenal everyday Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro’s Football Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link we’ll send you so we can get football news tailored to you. But things could have turned out differently as Pasieczny has revealed that he was monitoring Kvaratskhelia on Arsenal’s behalf, but a poor performance from the winger during a game for Rubin Kazan may have cost him a move to the Premier League. ‘Georgia’s youth team visited Poland, there was a qualifying tournament. My job was to pay attention to other teams, but when you saw them – Khvicha and Zuriko Davitashvili – we had long discussions with other scouts about who was better. Then I watched both of them in Russia, so I followed their development for a long time,’ Pasieczny told Wezlo. Arsenal were monitoring Khvicha Kvaratskhelia during his time at Rubin Kazan (Getty) ‘I was at the old stadium in Kazan for a match with Dynamo Moscow, where Sebastian Szymanski was playing at the time. Kvaratskhelia came off the bench, made two completely unsuccessful dribbles and the fans reacted very negatively. ‘At that stage he couldn’t cope with it. Every next move was bad, from start to finish. He got lost, the ball bounced off him, you could see that he had lost his confidence. It was exaggerated. I started to pay more attention to it. ‘He overcame it, but if it had continued, it would have been a problem. Being affected by a few thousand people in Kazan doesn’t lead to a good rating.’ Arsenal ended up signing Marquinhos for £3m (DeFodi Images via Getty) Asked if this raised doubts over Kvaratskhelia’s ability to reach the top level, Pasieczny replied: ‘In the case of big clubs and longer observations, you see a player often and you don’t make a decision based on one report. ‘You follow his development because you know that something may come of it, but it’s not like someone goes straight from Kazan to a top team. ‘Everyone knew he would be mega good, but they wondered how good. Whether he would be the absolute top or a bit lower. Few had any doubts that he wouldn’t be at all. ‘However, at that stage I had to write how it is, draw conclusions, write where the problems are. Further observation is important, however, because the information that he coped with the pressure may have an impact on the final decision.’ Instead, Arsenal opted to sign Brazilian winger Marquinhos from Sao Paulo on a five-year contract for around £3m, but the 22-year-old has failed to make an impact under Mikel Arteta and is currently on loan with Cruzeiro. Former Arsenal scout Tomasz Pasieczny says he had doubts over Leandro Trossard (Getty) Pasieczny also revealed that he had doubts over Leandro Trossard, who join Arsenal in a £27m deal from Brighton in January 2023. ‘It was before he went to Brighton,’ Pasieczny explained. ‘I was at the Lech Poznan match with KRC Genk, but I also saw him in the squad. He was “flying” around the market then. I thought he was not a player for Arsenal, but after his time at Brighton it turned out very well. ‘I simply thought he was a player for a good English club, but not a top one. Something was missing, a bit of quality. ‘Trossard was versatile, but he was a bit short of the top level. ‘Nevertheless, I will give credit to the fact that he defended himself and proved to be very useful. ‘Of course, it is difficult to judge now whether he reached this level thanks to Brighton, or whether I was wrong and he was ready then.’ For more stories like this, check our sport page. Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Former Arsenal scout Tomasz Pasieczny has revealed that the Gunners rejected the chance to sign Paris Saint-Germain winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in 2022.
Kvaratskhelia came through Dinamo Tbilisi’s academy and ended up playing in Russia’s top flight in 2019, initially on loan with Lokomotiv Moscow before he joined Rubin Kazan that summer.
The Georgia international returned to his homeland following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by signing for Dinamo Batumi before he was quickly snapped up by Napoli for just €13.3 million (£11.3m) in the summer of 2022.
Kvaratskhelia made an immediate impact at Napoli and played a key role in their Serie A title success the following year.
In the January transfer window, Paris Saint-Germain signed Kvaratskheliafrom Napoli for €70m (£59m) and the 24-year-old has once again showed why he is one of Europe’s standout wingers.
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But things could have turned out differently as Pasieczny has revealed that he was monitoring Kvaratskhelia on Arsenal’s behalf, but a poor performance from the winger during a game for Rubin Kazan may have cost him a move to the Premier League.
‘Georgia’s youth team visited Poland, there was a qualifying tournament. My job was to pay attention to other teams, but when you saw them – Khvicha and Zuriko Davitashvili – we had long discussions with other scouts about who was better. Then I watched both of them in Russia, so I followed their development for a long time,’ Pasieczny told Wezlo.
‘I was at the old stadium in Kazan for a match with Dynamo Moscow, where Sebastian Szymanski was playing at the time. Kvaratskhelia came off the bench, made two completely unsuccessful dribbles and the fans reacted very negatively.
‘At that stage he couldn’t cope with it. Every next move was bad, from start to finish. He got lost, the ball bounced off him, you could see that he had lost his confidence. It was exaggerated. I started to pay more attention to it.
‘He overcame it, but if it had continued, it would have been a problem. Being affected by a few thousand people in Kazan doesn’t lead to a good rating.’
Asked if this raised doubts over Kvaratskhelia’s ability to reach the top level, Pasieczny replied: ‘In the case of big clubs and longer observations, you see a player often and you don’t make a decision based on one report.
‘You follow his development because you know that something may come of it, but it’s not like someone goes straight from Kazan to a top team.
‘Everyone knew he would be mega good, but they wondered how good. Whether he would be the absolute top or a bit lower. Few had any doubts that he wouldn’t be at all.
‘However, at that stage I had to write how it is, draw conclusions, write where the problems are. Further observation is important, however, because the information that he coped with the pressure may have an impact on the final decision.’
Instead, Arsenal opted to sign Brazilian winger Marquinhos from Sao Paulo on a five-year contract for around £3m, but the 22-year-old has failed to make an impact under Mikel Arteta and is currently on loan with Cruzeiro.
Pasieczny also revealed that he had doubts over Leandro Trossard, who join Arsenal in a £27m deal from Brighton in January 2023.
‘It was before he went to Brighton,’ Pasieczny explained.
‘I was at the Lech Poznan match with KRC Genk, but I also saw him in the squad. He was “flying” around the market then. I thought he was not a player for Arsenal, but after his time at Brighton it turned out very well.
‘I simply thought he was a player for a good English club, but not a top one. Something was missing, a bit of quality.
‘Trossard was versatile, but he was a bit short of the top level.
‘Nevertheless, I will give credit to the fact that he defended himself and proved to be very useful.
‘Of course, it is difficult to judge now whether he reached this level thanks to Brighton, or whether I was wrong and he was ready then.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
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