Mikautadze came into the world on 31 October 2000 in Lyon, France. The son of Georgian parents made his first contact with the ball at local football club FC Gerland in 2007. Then the now 22-year-old Ajax player developed further in the youth academies of Olympique Lyon and AS Saint-Priest.
After playing a year in both AS Saint-Priest's U17 and U19 teams, Mikautadze appears on the radar of FC Metz. Mikautadze was aware that he was not able to rely on his physicality during that period, but his agility and good technique allowed him to make a name for himself at the club where he would eventually break through. Notably, a game against his old club Lyon, in which the technical striker scored a hat-trick, proved decisive for Metz.
Thanks to his talent and work ethic, Mikautadze gets the chance to showcase his qualities at the highest level in France on 7 December 2019. He makes his appearance in the first team during a league game with OGC Nice. The quick and also skilful forward comes on as a right-winger seven minutes before full time. These immediately prove to be his only minutes of the season in Ligue 1.
Loan period
In the 2020/2021 season, Mikautadze opts for a loan period, as the young striker has little prospect of playing minutes with FC Metz's flagship side at that time. The brand-new Ajax acquisition leaves for RFC Seraing, playing in the second division in Belgium.
He has a bright start at his new club. In his first official match for RFC Seraing, for instance, Mikautadze is on target four times straight away. After an excellent first season, the 22-year-old attacking midfielder and striker achieves promotion to the Jupiler Pro League along with his teammates. Eventually, Georgia's national coach also rewarded him for his good play with a call-up to the national team.
The fact that the Georgian goalgetter is called up for his homeland does not come out of the blue. Indeed, he can look back on a great season in terms of statistics. In 24 games, Mikautadze scored 22 times and provided two assists. So he is involved in one goal on average every game. Per game, he has an average of 2.5 so-called 'key actions', which could have resulted in a goal.
Mikautadze also plays on a loan basis for RFC Seraing the following season, this time in the Jupiler Pro League. The club from Seraing narrowly manages to maintain their place through the play-offs. In total, the 22-year-old forward plays 57 games in two seasons in Belgium. During this time, he accounts for 36 goals and four assists.
Season of success
Having accumulated lots of hours at RFC Seraing, the Georgian returns to FC Metz in the summer of 2022 with plenty of confidence. The striker also shows this immediately on the pitch, flourishing in the burgundy shirt. The Georgian technician pilots FC Metz to the Ligue 1 with 23 goals and eight assists. Moreover, Mikautadze also earns the individual prize for top scorer of Ligue 2.
If we zoom in further on his first full season in France, we see that Mikautadze plays mainly as a centre striker, while he also finishes games as a left winger, attacking midfielder and 'false nine'. The Ajax acquisition had a 69% share of Metz's goals last season. He also averaged 0.6 goals per game.
This season, the agile goalscorer is continuing his good run. In his three first league games of the season, Mikautadze scored two goals and was the instigator of an FC Metz goal one time.
Arveladze
Ajax has good experience with Georgian strikers. The now 50-year-old Shota Arveladze was under contract in Amsterdam between 1997 and 2001. In 125 official matches as an Ajax player, he accounted for 72 goals and 15 assists. Arveladze won three prizes at Ajax: one national title and two national cups. Something the eager Mikautadze will also want to achieve in the Dutch capital.
