Napoli star reveals unusual football idol

Napoli’s Georgian forward Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has revealed that he idolised a Real Madrid playmaker while growing up, but it is probably not one of the ones you were thinking of. 

During the Galacticos era, Real Madrid was replete with outstanding footballers who were household names and Ballon d’Or winners, including midfielders like Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo, but it was a less healed Guti Hernandez who caught Kvaratskhelia's eye and inspired the now-Napoli forward to pursue his football career. 

Speaking on a social media interactive session, Kvaratskhelia confessed to adoring Guti and spoke of the great lengths he went through to ensure he played with the symbolism of the Real Madrid midfielder. 

“I love football because of Guti, who played for Real Madrid,” he began before adding, “When I was a child, Guti t-shirts were not sold in Georgia, I bought a white jersey and wrote the number 14 on the back with a pen. I always wore this jersey when I played football.”

The fact that Guti’s jerseys were not on sale in Georgia, where Kvaratskhelia grew up, shows how niche the ex-Real Madrid captain is as a choice for a football idol. Still, those who knew about Guti and saw him in his pomp would never deny how brilliant it was to watch him play. 

Guti represented Real Madrid 542 times across 15 seasons between 1995 and 2010 with Los Blancos and retired as an icon of the club, and one of the smoothest playmakers to ever wear the famous all-white. 

Despite the influx of other talented players in the clubs, Guti always held sway with the fans and was an integral part of squads that won numerous domestic and international trophies. 

Guti's best seasons with Real Madrid were in the latter part of his career, as he was the team’s main creative hub from 2006 to 2008, helping them to consecutive LaLiga titles and immortalising himself in Real Madrid history by scoring the club’s 5000th goal.