Georges Mikautadze’s journey to Ligue 1
This season, Mikautadze has scored 10 goals in 17 Ligue 1 games; eight of them goals came in 13 games following his return to the Lorraine region at the beginning of 2024. The top scorer in Ligue 2 BKT last season has already scored five goals in his previous three Ligue 1 games. Since his return, it’s safe to assume that the output has been successful.
Mikautadze enrolled in the Olympique Lyonnais youth program at the age of eight, but by the time he was fifteen, he had to endure a heartbreaking rejection. The Georgian subsequently acknowledged that the setback “shattered my childhood dreams”.
Mikautadze was let go by Les Gones despite being in the same generation as Amine Gouiri (Rennes) and strikers with more physical attributes at Lyon like Esteban Lepaul (Angers) and Mohamed Bahlouli (Sampdoria). After that, he relocated to Metz, where he was loaned to Belgium and continued to play for the reserve team.
As part of a group of six Metz players, Mikautadze went on loan to play for Belgian second-tier team Seraing in the summer of 2020, marking his transition into adult football and giving him an opportunity to demonstrate his goal-scoring prowess. “This player immediately impressed me when I arrived at the club,” says Jean-Louis Garcia, a former Seraing manager. “Having him comfort me in the fight for relegation. His loan status even startled me. He possessed all of them: movement, precision, speed, and poise.
“Georges is not Mbappé, but he is the Mbappé of FC Metz”
László Bölöni, the manager of Metz, took a risk on the young player after he had a great spell at the Belgian team (15 goals in 33 games), hoping to propel Metz back to Ligue 1. “We had the courage to keep someone, to take a chance on someone who hadn’t really been taken seriously until that point,” Bölöni added.
Mikautadze repaid the confidence that was placed in him with an incredible Ligue 2 BKT season, finishing as the league’s top scorer with 23 goals and winning player of the year. Against Rennes, the Georgian international made his Ligue 1 debut and displayed his skill as a dangerous dribbler, with strength, speed, and, in the few games he played before joining Dutch powerhouse Ajax last summer, a lethal finishing touch.
Mikautadze returned to Ligue 1 in January after a trying time with the faltering Eredivisie team, and he has definitely struck the ground running with Les Grenats. Manager Boloni remarked, “Georges is not Mbappé, but he is the Mbappé of FC Metz,” following his most recent goal on Sunday against Le Havre (0-1). “Today he is back to his best. The most happiness comes from having a striker.”
With a tough schedule that includes games against LOSC, Rennes, Strasbourg, and PSG, Les Grenats will need all the support they can get from their King Georges. After scoring a brace at home against Lens, his team’s performance against Le Havre propelled them into 15th position in the Ligue 1 standings.