Georges Mikautadze, the choice of the heart and a new chapter to write with Lyon

Born in Lyon and having passed through the OL training center, the Georgian striker will wear the jersey of his favorite club for the first time in an official match, Sunday in Rennes, at the start of a season where his mission will be to support Alexandre Lacazette.

Back home. Georges Mikautadze is due to make his official debut with Olympique Lyonnais on Sunday 18 August (8:45pm) in Rennes on the first day of Ligue 1. After a high-flying last half-season despite the relegation of FC Metz (12 goals and three assists in 19 games after six months of failure at Ajax Amsterdam), and a remarkable Euro (joint top scorer with three goals and qualification for the round of 16), the Georgian striker made the choice of the heart by joining OL for 18.5 million euros, excluding bonuses, in mid-July.

And this, despite a delay in payment by Lyon of the first installment of his transfer to the Grenats. The latter have also seized the legal commission of the Professional Football League (LFP), even if the imbroglio is in the process of being resolved.

From 2008 to 2015, the native of the capital of Gaul played in the club’s youth categories, notably alongside Maxence Caqueret. Not kept on at 15 because of his height (1.76 m) and his physique considered too frail, he finally relaunched himself at Saint-Priest, in the suburbs of Lyon, before joining FC Metz. Not holding a grudge, the center forward has never stopped shouting his love for Lyon, even as far as Saint-Etienne, where he celebrated a double in April 2023 by miming the number 69, that of the Rhône department, a number he has also chosen to wear this summer. Enough to delight the Rhône supporters.

“Since I was little, I dreamed of wearing this jersey. There was this craze that motivates me even more. I want to show everyone that I can do great things here. I always had OL in the back of my mind. When I heard that the club wanted me, I was very happy and I told my agents that I preferred OL to any team.”he admitted in an interview given to the club’s website on July 20, while AS Monaco had long been announced as the frontrunner to recruit him.

If the arrival of the one nicknamed “King George” does not fill the gaps in the Lyon midfield, perhaps still limited for the announced Champions League objective, it must serve to prepare for the future. Decisive in the crazy comeback of OL, going from bottom of the table to qualified for the Europa League last season, Alexandre Lacazette is 33 years old. An age to take into account when a year with a minimum of 43 matches is looming, especially since the Lyon captain was on deck until August 9 with the French Olympic team.

“There are two ways to combine them: either in the same match, without them playing together, by distributing the playing times, or at the same timesaid coach Pierre Sage at the beginning of August, aware that his leader will sometimes have to take a breather. That’s why we visited other organizations during the preparation. In any case, it’s more about multiple solutions than a new problem. From the moment when both are performing well, I will positively rack my brains to find solutions to this equation.”

“It’s up to me to adapt to the team and to what the coach will ask of me, confirms Georges Mikautadze, under contract until June 2028. I’m looking forward to working with Alexandre, because he’s a great striker. I take a bit of inspiration from him and I think we’ll be complementary. He can ask for the ball at his feet and I can go deep, or the other way around. We can do both.”

In three games against Torino (0-0), Union Berlin (4-0) and Arsenal (0-2), the 23-year-old centre-forward has yet to find the back of the net in the pre-season friendlies. In the absence of “General” Lacazette, exempted from the Breton trip to rest after the Olympics (but who should return on the second day against Monaco), he will have a first opportunity to open his official counter in the colours he loves so much.