Levan Mchedlidze

Levan Mchedlidze (Georgian: ლევან მჭედლიძე, romanized: levan mch'edlidze, pronounced [lɛvan mt͡ʃʼɛdlid͡zɛ]; born 24 March 1990) is a Georgian professional footballer who last playad as a forward for Georgian club Dinamo Batumi.

Club Career

Empoli

Originally noted in early 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.

Loan to Palermo

Following Empoli's relegation into Serie B, Mchedlidze's future was put under discussion. On 30 August 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. Later, Palermo chairman Maurizio Zamparini announced to have paid €6.2 mln for the signing of the young Georgian striker. 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.

Mchedlidze made his Serie A debut on 24 September 2008, playing fifteen minutes in a league game against Napoli, then scoring his first professional goal only a few weeks later, in what ultimately proved to be the winning goal in a surprising 2–1 away win against Juventus. Despite the high hopes for the young striker, he went on to make just another seven appearances that season and didn't add to his goal tally.

Palermo agreed a one-year extension to his loan with Empoli in June 2009. On December 2009, after a lacklustre start of season, Mchedlidze did not return to Sicily from holidays in Georgia, citing lack of first team chances as the main reason behind his choice. The player was successively excluded from the first team and Palermo directo

This page also has a version in other languages :  Леван Мчедлидзе (russian)