Levan Mchedlidze

Infobox Football biography
playername= Levan Mchedlidze
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1990|3|24
cityofbirth = Tbilisi
countryofbirth = Soviet Union
height = height|m=1.87
currentclub = Palermo
clubnumber = 99
position = Striker
youthyears = 2005–2006
2006–2007
youthclubs = FC Dila Gori
Empoli
years = 2007–
2008–
clubs = Empoli
→ Palermo (loan)
caps(goals) = 0 (0)
2 (1)
nationalyears = 2007–
nationalteam = Georgia
nationalcaps(goals) = 8 (1)
pcupdate = 22:36, 5 October, 2008 (UTC)
ntupdate = 22:42, 5 October 2008 (UTC)

Levan Mchedlidze (Georgian: ლევან მჭედლიძე – IPA2|lɛvan mʧʼɛdlɪʣɛ) (born March 24, 1990 in Tbilisi) is a Georgian professional football player who is currently playing with Italian Serie A team Palermo.

Originally noted in the spring of 2006 by Empoli scout Gianni Carnevali, he joined the Tuscan side on September 2006, following his impressive performances with the Georgia under-19 national team in a youth competition in Belgium, and despite some interest from FC Bayern Munich. He was officially signed only one year later, on July 2007, due to bureaucratic issues concerning his non-EU citizen status. [cite web|url=http://www.empolicalcio.it/documento.php?id=5942|publisher=Empoli FC|language=Italian|title=Levan Mchedlidze: alcune notizie|date=2007-10-17|accessdate=2007-10-20]

Despite having never played in his team also because of a knee injury during the pre-season training, he was capped for the Georgia national football team at the age of 17, for the Euro 2008 qualifying match against Italy. [cite web|url=http://www.gonews.it/articolo.php?at=4635|title=Levan il debutto del predestinato|language=Italian] In spite of his young age, the coach Klaus Toppmöller made him play against the World Champions.

In the following match, Mchedlidze, being featured together with other two teenagers teammates (Levan Kenia and Giorgi Makaridze in the starting lineup [cite web|url=http://www.uefa.com/competitions/euro/news/kind=1/newsid=605324.html|title=Future bright for Toppmöller's Georgia] ), scored the first goal in the 2-0 victory against Scotland, thus marking his first goal of his professional career. [cite web|url=http://www.uefa.com/competitions/euro/fixturesresults/round=2241/match=83996/index.html|title=Youthful Georgia hurt Scotland hopes]

Following Empoli's relegation into Serie B, Mchedlidze's future was put under discussion. On August 30, 2008 Serie A club Palermo announced on their website to have signed Mchedlidze on a year-long loan, with the option to make the deal permanent at the end of the season. [cite news |url=http://www.ilpalermocalcio.it/it/0809/news_scheda.jsp?id=9742 |publisher=US Città di Palermo|language=Italian |date=2008-08-30 |accessdate=2008-08-30 |title=Levan Mchedlidze al Palermo] Later, Palermo chairman Maurizio Zamparini announced to have paid €6.2 mln for the signing of the young Georgian striker, [cite news|publisher=U.S. Città di Palermo|url=http://www.ilpalermocalcio.it/it/0809/news_scheda.jsp?id=9777|title=DICHIARAZIONE DI ZAMPARINI|date=2008-09-02|accessdate=2008-09-03|language=Italian] ; the club also confirmed the bid to be an actual permanent move, as a technical year-long loan that will be made permanent at the end of the 2008–09 season. [cite news|publisher=Mediagol|url=http://www.mediagol.it/articolo.asp?idNotizia=11477|title=Sabatini: "Vi presento Succi e Levan"|date=2008-09-11|accessdate=2008-09-12|language=Italian]

Mchedlidze made his Serie A debut on September 24, 2008, playing fifteen minutes in a league game against Napoli. [cite news|publisher=Mediagol|url=http://www.mediagol.it/articolo.asp?idNotizia=12556|title=NAPOLI-PALERMO: esordio per Mchedlidze|date=2008-09-24|accessdate=2008-10-06|language=Italian] On October 5, 2008 Levan scored his first Serie A goal, that ultimately proved to be the winning one, in a surprising 2–1 away win to Juventus. [cite news|publisher=CBC Sports|url=http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2008/10/05/italian-roundup.html|title=Palermo adds to Juventus woes|date=2008-10-05|accessdate=2008-10-06]

References