Summary: After failing to be convinced of Kvaratskhelia’s ability, Arsenal passed up the future star. The Georgian was crucial to the Gunners’ elimination in the Champions League semifinals. Mikel Arteta’s choice to sign someone other than the winger has fans in disbelief. Arsenal fans are undoubtedly still wondering “what might have been” after their team was eliminated by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League semi-final just a few days ago, as Mikel Arteta’s team fails to win a major title once more. The Parisians now have the opportunity to win Europe’s largest trophy for the first time in their history after the Gunners were unable to contain players like Joao Neves, Achraf Hakimi, and Ousmane Dembele throughout the two rounds. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who joined Luis Enrique’s team in January and has had a significant impact in the French city since joining from Napoli, was another important figure. But if Arsenal had pursued him after scouting him years prior, he might have been lining up on the opposite side of the pitch. They chose to go with another young winger instead, and history shows that this was a costly move.
How Arsenal Snubbed Kvaratskhelia For Brazilian Flop
The Gunners put faith in another youngster who has barely featured for the club
The Sun claims that when Arsenal was looking for potential in Eastern Europe in 2021, they were first introduced to Kvaratskhelia. Scout Tomasz Pasieczny claims that while the Georgian young squad was in Poland for a tournament, he occurred to chance across the winger. However, Pasieczny was not persuaded that Kvaratskhelia would become the celebrity he became after closely observing him while the forward was at Rubin Kazan: “I was watching a game against Dynamo Moscow at the old stadium in Kazan when Khvicha came off the bench and made two dribbles that were utter failures, to the fury of the supporters. He was unable to handle it at that point. From beginning to end, every subsequent move was terrible. You could tell that he had lost confidence because he became lost and the ball rebounded off him. Everyone was aware that he would be extremely talented, but they were unsure of just how good. if he would be little below the top or at the very top. Few questioned whether he would be nothing at all. But at that point, I had to report the facts as they are, make inferences, and identify the issues. The winger would undoubtedly overcome those early obstacles and persuade Napoli to take a chance and spend £10 million for him. The rest was history, as they say. But who did the Gunners choose instead? It seems out that they had an agreement to acquire Brazilian winger Marquinhos from Sao Paulo shortly after deciding against bringing Kvaratskhelia to North London.
Fans were obviously unhappy to learn what they received in return for what they were deprived of when they finally connected the dots. The choice to sign Marquinhos instead of the Georgian star was a “sackable offence,” according to one fan who took to social media, while another said: “The person who did this should be jailed for treason.” “Edu is a fool,” a third said, disparaging previous director Edu. Other commentators called the action “unbelievable” and a “shocking decision.”
Marquinhos’ Current Status With Arsenal
The winger is still contracted to the club
Even if Arsenal supporters are upset that they passed on a future world-class player by choosing a player who hasn’t yet shown himself, they might be surprised to learn that Marquinhos is still under contract with the team, with his contract set to expire in 2027. The winger, who joined the Gunners as a teenager in 2022, has only made six appearances overall. However, his debut performance in a 2-1 Europa League victory over FC Zurich, in which he scored and received an assist, couldn’t have gone any better. Unfortunately, he was unable to maintain that early pace and had to take out multiple loans in order to obtain consistent experience. He scarcely played during stints at Norwich City and Nantes before returning to Brazil to sign with Fluminense. He was transferred to Cruzeiro after that loan agreement ended in December, and he will stay there until the end of the year. He has made 16 appearances for his new team thus far, but a lot of them have been substitutes. Cruzeiro is unlikely to use their option to sign him to a long-term contract given that he has only contributed one goal and one assist.
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