George Kinkladze, 3 unknown footballers from Georgia and Country of hidden talents

Georgian footballer George Kinkladze played for Man City from 1995 to 1998, and he was one of the most mesmerizing footballers. Kinkladze scored an incredible goal against Southampton. Despite receiving several offers from Barcelona, Liverpool, and other giants, he refused all of them and decided to stay at City. Later, he was hailed as the magician of Maine Road, and some fans consider him the greatest footballer of Manchester of all time.

While most fans are familiar with Kinkladze, only a few have heard of Mikheil Kavelashvili, Kakhaber Tskhadadze and Murtaz Shelia. These three players were also from Georgia, and the main reason they joined City, was Kinkladze. They were friends and teammates from Dinamo Tbilisi.

Mikheil Kavelashvili (striker)

Kavelashvili recorded 3 goals in 28 games during his tenure at City from 1995 to 1997. What’s even more exciting is that Kavelashvili made his debut on April 6 versus Manchester United and scored against them.

At that time, City was relegated from the Premier League, and Mikheil played 24 games (scoring 2 goals) in the first division. However, this number of appearances was not sufficient to obtain a work permit, and as a result, he was compelled to leave England.

Kakhaber Tskhadadze and Murtaz Shelia (defenders)

Manchester City needed to strengthen their defense, and Kinkladze offered the management two Georgian center-backs: Murtaz Shelia and Kakhaber Tskhadadze. Both of them were playing for Alania Vladikavkaz at the time, but were also members of the Georgian National team, even serving as starters. Shelia played his first game against Birmingham, and six weeks later, Tskhadadze joined the team. Thus, for 15 games, City had a Georgian central defense. Unfortunately, both players suffered practically life-threatening injuries and left England in 2000. Despite their setbacks, Shelia managed to score 2 goals in 15 appearances, while the 1.87m Tskhadadze also scored 2 goals in 12 matches.

So, injuries had ruined the Manchester careers of the Georgian center backs. Kakhaber was acknowledged as the king of the air, while many fans believed that Shelia was far better than his compatriot.

Kinkladze Academy and Georgian talents

According to British, Italian, and Georgian media, Pep Guardiola wants to sign the Georgian gem Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who currently plays for Napoli and has been named in the top 10 of the Ballon d’Or by several sources. We will have to pay at least 80 million for him, while Napoli acquired him for 10 million.

Georgian striker Georges Mikautadze plays for Metz and has scored 23 goals in France Ligue 2. He is wanted by our legend, Burnley coach Vincent Company.

Some media outlets have published information about George Mamardashvili and the City-United rivalry to buy the Georgian “Batman” from Valencia. Valencia purchased Mamardashvili for 1 million, while his current transfer cost is more than 25 million.

George Kinkladze wants to open a Man City academy in Georgia. Georgia is a country full of talented teenagers who are crazy about football. It could become a place where we can discover talented players at cheap prices.