The UEFA Euro 2024 is filled with world-renowned players, most of them from Europe. However, these kinds of competitions always have room for surprises. One of them is Georges Mikautadze, the Georgian forward who is currently the top scorer of the tournament with three goals.
In addition to being the revelation of the Euros so far, the Georgian also gives Brazil an unexpected representation in the European Championship. The 23-year-old, who was born in France to Georgian parents, calls himself “Georginho” to feel like a Brazilian footballer.
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“It’s a nickname I gave myself in reference to Brazilian football. It already happened when I played with my neighborhood friends. I must say that when I tell people my first name is Georges, they think I’m joking,” he told RTBF radio station in Belgium in 2021.
It was in Belgian football where he gained experience during a stint away from French club Metz, his current team. In the 2020/21 season, Mikautadze was loaned to Sérésien in the Belgian second division. The following season, he joined Seraing, a top-tier team in the country. In total, he scored 36 goals in 58 matches for both clubs. Mikautadze returned to Metz and was the top scorer of Ligue 2 in the 2022/23 season, with 23 goals in 35 games.
Mikautadze 🤤@Alipay | #EUROskills pic.twitter.com/0VmIoxxilb
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) June 26, 2024
Though he moved to Ajax for 16 million euros in 2023, the forward played only nine matches for the Dutch club and did not score any goals. In January 2024, he returned to Metz on loan. There, Mikautadze found the net again, contributing 14 goals and four assists in 22 matches in the second half of the season, although he couldn’t prevent relegation at the hands of Saint-Étienne in the Ligue 1 playoffs.
Even so, the club exercised the purchase option for 13 million euros to retain “Georginho” for the next season.
Despite his passion for Brazilian football, the top scorer clarified, “My roots are in Georgia. I still have family there. My family is very happy to see me wearing the national team jersey.”
Now, he will look to help his national team when Georgia face Spain on Sunday, June 30, in the European Championship last 16. The winner will face Germany or Denmark in the quarterfinals.
