Giorgi Chakvetadze

Giorgi Chakvetadze (; born 29 August 1999) is a Georgian professional footballer who plays for club Udinese and the Georgia national team. Mainly an attacking midfielder, he can also be deployed as a left winger or as a central midfielder.

Chakvetadze has earned the Footballer of the Year award in Georgia. He has also won the Slovak First League with Slovan Bratislava.

Club career Early career and Dinamo Tbilisi Born in Tbilisi, Chakvetadze started his career with Norchi Dinamo. His first manager was former footballer Tamaz Kostava, who described Chakvetadze as a hardworking player. In 2015, Chakvetadze signed a three-year deal with Dinamo.

Chakvetadze was promoted to the first team in 2016, making his debut against Locomotive Tbilisi on 18 November 2016, replacing Otar Kiteishvili. That season the young midfielder made 5 appearances for Dinamo. In the following season, Chakvetadze became a key figure of the club, scoring five goals in 24 appearances with the club, with two of them against Dila Gori.

Gent At the end of summer 2017, Chakvetadze signed with Gent. The president of the Georgian club, Roman Pipia confirmed that the Belgian club was not the only one interested in signing the young player, declaring that Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Hoffenheim and Bayer Leverkusen tried to sign him as well.

In April 2018, he topped the list of seven young distinguished players based on votes from Belgian football fans.

Early next year Chakvetadze was included by UEFA in the list of 50 perspective players of 2019 among U21 players. Also, he was named in the symbolic team of Belgium's top division following the first half of the 2018–19 season.

Around the same time, Giorgi Chakvetadze received the Best Player of the Year award in Georgia, especially given his several impressive games in the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League campaign.

In December 2018, Chakvetadze suffered a knee injury, which later required a surgery. It saw him out of action for a long time.

His surname is transliterated as Tsjakvetadze in Dutch.

Loan to Hamburger SV On 27 January 2022, Chakvetadze joined Hamburger SV on loan. He participated in ten matches with this 2.Bundesliga club, scoring once.

Loan to Slovan Bratislava On 4 July 2022, Slovan Bratislava signed Giorgi Chakvetadze on a one-year loan. He debuted with his new club as a second-half substitute on 6 July during the UEFA Champions League 1st qualifying round game against Dinamo Batumi.

During this season Chakvetadze took part in 47 matches in all competitions and became a champion with Slovan. He played in eight UEFA Conference League games, providing four assists.

Before the start of the next season, Slovan intended to purchase him, but the sides failed to reach an agreement on his transfer fee.

Watford In July 2023, Chakvetadze joined English club Watford on a season-long loan. He scored his first EFL Championship goal on Boxing day against Bristol City. On 1 February 2024, Watford confirmed that they had completed the permanent signing of Chakvetadze with the contract extended to another five-year period later in September that year.

Having played 37 games in all competitions during his first year, Chakvetadze had a memorable start to the 2024–25 season. As the club secured two wins from two Championship games, he not only scored and assisted, but also made it into the team of the week. Later, when some of the media outlets summed up the first half of this season, Chakvetadze was selected as best player of the team. According to some estimates made in December 2024, Chakvetadze had a 150% increase in his wages compared to his loan period, which made him the Hornets' fifth-highest earner.

Udinese On 6 July 2026, Chakvetadze signed a four-year contract with Udinese in Italy.

International career Chakvetadze scored his debut goal of his senior career in a friendly match against Lithuania on 24 March 2018 in Tbilisi, where Georgia achieved a 4–0 win over its guests.

On 6 September 2018, Chakvetadze opened the scoring in a 2–0 win over Kazakhstan, the first goal in the history of the UEFA Nations League. On 19 November 2018, he assisted and scored again for Georgia in his country's 2–1 win over Kazakhstan which confirmed the country as the winner of its group.

On 25 March 2023, Chakvetadze bagged a brace in a 6–1 win over Mongolia.

A year later he took part in both UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches and made a vital contribution to Georgia's first major international achievement. He participated in all four games that the national team held in the tournament. On 2 July 2024, Chakvetadze was awarded the Order of Honour along with his teammates.

Career statistics Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals

2016

2018–19

Scores and results list Georgia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Chakvetadze goal.

Honours Individual Player of the Year in Georgia: 2018

Order of Honour

Team

Slovak First League Winner: 2022–23 Belgian Cup Winner: 2022; Runner-Up 2019