Georgia star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia said he was proud to be compared with the great George Best ahead of Friday’s Nations League clash with Northern Ireland in Tbilisi.

Kvaratskhelia is hoping to emulate Best’s achievement from 1968 by winning the Ballon d’Or award after being named Champions League player of the season in helping Paris St Germain to a second consecutive European and French double.

As Kvaratskhelia does for Georgia now, Best brought world-class talent to the national team of a small country when he played 37 times for Northern Ireland between 1964 and 1977.

“I knew of him, of course,” Kvaratskhelia, 25, said of Best in a press conference on Friday. “Some people a long time ago told me about these days…He was one of the best in football history and it’s a pleasure and I’m proud.”

placeholder image — Khvicha Kvaratskhelia will come up against Northern Ireland tomorrow. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

While Kvaratskhelia may be Georgia’s modern day Best on the pitch, his national team manager Willy Sagnol joked he was happy the comparisons stopped there given Best’s reputation for pleasure-seeking away from football.

“I’m so pleased his life out of football is a bit more quiet than George Best’s life, but we are talking about two very, very, very talented players and it’s difficult to talk about talent,” said Sagnol, a Champions League winner with Bayern Munich and World Cup finalist with France.

“Maybe I had a good career but I didn’t have 10 per cent of the talent that Khvicha has…

“I’m proud to be his head coach. He’s not just about a fantastic player but a fantastic personality who thinks always about the team and not about himself. I’m sure tomorrow he will show again he’s our leader and everything is good.”

Kvaratskhelia will be up against the likes of Harry Kane, Yamine Lamal, Michael Olise and Kylian Mbappe for the Ballon d’Or, which will be presented in London on October 26.

“To be a Ballon d’Or contender, it’s already a pleasure to be among these players in the race,” he said.

“I feel already that I did something special in the last year. I’m really happy and let’s see what’s going to happen.

“I’m happy that I represent Georgia, a small country. Little kids, they know that even if they are from a small country, they can achieve these things.”

Like Northern Ireland, Georgia earned promotion from League C last time around in this competition but they have big ambitions in the group.

“Our team many times has shown we can play with everyone,” Kvaratskhelia added. “Our aim will be to win the group.”