‘Really hard to do’: Pundit says player Liverpool reportedly want to sign was doing one Red ‘for pace’ tonight

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Khvica Kvaratskhelia had one Liverpool player for pace at Anfield, says Owen Hargreaves. The Reds reportedly want the Napoli star.

Liverpool welcomed arguably the most in-form team in Europe to Anfield on Tuesday. Napoli came to town and that meant going up against Khvica Kvaraskhelia.

The Georgian has been a revelation since arriving in Naples this summer. He’s leading them in both goals and assists as they storm towards the Serie A title. The 21-year-old is unquestionably one of the best players in Europe right now.

Liverpool saw that up close, too. Kvaratskhelia was electric in the first-half tonight, constantly looking to break with the ball.

He impressed Owen Hargreaves, who was giving punditry in the BT Sport studio. Notably, he saw Kvaratskhelia beating Ibrahima Konaté for pace.

“30 seconds in, a little nutmeg and then a shift out wide with his left foot,” said Hargreaves. “That is just… that is some start to a game right there.

“He’s direct, he’s getting after Trent [Alexander-Arnold] at every opportunity. He’s doing [Ibrahima] Konaté for pace as well, which is really hard to do.

“He’s fantastic. He’s so direct and we said before the game that he can go left or right.”

Khvica Kvaratskhelia shows his pace

While Liverpool won’t have liked seeing their players struggle with Kvaratskhelia, they will note it down. Reports out of Italy suggest they’re paying ‘great attention’ to the Georgian after his exploits this season.

There’s no suggestion that Napoli would sell, of course. They’ve found a superstar under the radar and will want to thrive on the back of that. The club has already said he’s not for sale anytime soon.

But Napoli don’t tend to hold onto their stars forever. When the time comes for Kvaratskhelia to move on, Liverpool currently intend to be near the front of the queue.

After what they saw tonight, they’ll certainly want to be.