Giorgi Kvernadze has arrived at the first international break with the kind of start that invites a player to linger over it. In Georgian there is an expression, “shemomedamo”, used for food so irresistible that one keeps eating almost without meaning to: it has, in essence, eaten itself. For the Frosinone winger, this opening to the season has had a similar momentum. Three goals and one assist in the first five league rounds, followed by a wider return of five goals and two assists once the Coppa Italia is included, have made the 2003-born forward one of the early stories in Ciociaria.
His sharpest moments have come against Venezia, Genoa and Como, opponents left dealing with a left-sided attacker who can drive inside and finish with either foot. Comparisons with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia were always likely, given the nationality, the role and the tendency to turn a duel into a direct route to goal. Kvernadze has not tried to escape them, although he has placed the expectation in the right context.
“People often tell me I look like a younger Kvara,” he said after scoring against Genoa. “It makes me smile and it makes me happy, but I know I must always add something more.”
The connection is more substantial than an easy comparison. The two share Mamuka Jugeli as an agent, the representative who also handled Kvaratskhelia’s move to Napoli, and they have a longstanding relationship through the Georgia national set-up. After Kvernadze’s winning goal against Venezia, Kvaratskhelia, now at Paris Saint-Germain, marked the occasion on social media. More importantly, he had already helped the younger player through a difficult moment early in his career.
Kvernadze suffered an ankle injury and felt he needed specialist support beyond his club surroundings. Kvaratskhelia put him in touch with his personal physiotherapist, who made himself available immediately. Kvernadze has also described the Georgia dressing room as a place where newcomers are quickly made to feel part of the group, an environment that helped him settle alongside a player he now calls the best of all.
From Samtredia to a second chance at Frosinone
The route to this point has not been a straight line. Kvernadze comes from Samtredia, a Georgian town of around 25,000 people, and joined Dinamo Batumi in 2023. He had effectively been brought in to take up the left-wing space Kvaratskhelia had once occupied there, a responsibility that excited both the player and his family. He spoke warmly of the people he found at the club, but the stay lasted only seven matches before Frosinone moved decisively for him.
His first taste of Serie A was difficult. Kvernadze made five appearances in a campaign that ended in relegation, with little opportunity to show the qualities that had brought him to Italy. Frosinone nevertheless retained faith in him during the summer of 2024. He spoke then of a season he hoped would bring success for both himself and the team, though the following year remained anxious enough for the club to avoid the relegation play-outs only narrowly.
There was, however, clear progress in his game. Frosinone’s work in a 4-3-3 gave Kvernadze a more natural platform on the left, where his ability to beat a defender could become a recurring feature rather than an occasional glimpse. Under Max Alvini, he has become one of the central attacking figures alongside Ghedjemis, with the pair supplying goals, assists and the pace to alter matches as Frosinone pursue their route back towards Serie A.
Kvernadze has contributed to ten Frosinone goals through scoring or assisting, while the individual details behind the numbers are familiar to anyone who has watched him carry the ball. “I have always loved dribbling,” he has said. “It is something I have worked on since I was a child. I always wanted to get past my man.” His early idols were Ronaldo and Neymar; Kvaratskhelia has since become the reference point closest to home.
Italy, he believes, has changed him profoundly. On arriving at Frosinone, he felt the level of training made much of his previous experience in Georgia seem distant. The physical and technical demands were striking, and he has described the gap between his earlier self and the player shaped in Serie B as “like heaven and earth”.
That development matters more than the flattering label attached to him. Kvernadze is not required to become the next Kvaratskhelia for Frosinone; he is required to keep turning his growing influence into points, and to give Alvini’s side an outlet capable of changing the rhythm of a Sunday afternoon. For now, the goals, the assists and the confidence are arriving together. It is a spell worth enjoying before the season asks its next question.
