Early career When
Georgian football formed leagues independent of Soviet competition in 1989, a family friend arranged for Kinkladze to move to
Mretebi Tbilisi, the first openly professional club in the Soviet Union. After a season in the top flight with Mretebi, Kinkladze was signed by Dinamo Tbilisi, the team he represented as a youth, for one million
roubles. In September 1992, shortly after signing for Dinamo, Kinkladze made his senior international debut, aged 19. The match, against
Azerbaijan, was the Georgian national side's fourth since breaking from the Soviet Union in 1991. Kinkladze's youth-level teammate Shota Arveladze also played in the match, and Kinkladze provided an
assist for a goal by Arveladze. However, due to the ongoing
Georgian Civil War, during 1993 the Dinamo Tbilisi management sought to put their players in a more stable environment. As part of this, Kinkladze was sent on
loan to
1. FC Saarbrücken in Germany. Kinkladze made his Saarbrücken debut in a
2. Bundesliga match against
Tennis Borussia Berlin, a 2–2 draw on 4 March 1994. He was unable to settle into the side at Saarbrücken, rarely playing a full 90 minutes, and was
sent off in a 1–3 defeat to
Hertha Berlin. At the end of the season, Kinkladze returned to Tbilisi to resume his career in Georgia, where he was named the
national Player of the Year for 1993. Dinamo president
Merab Jordania was still uncomfortable with Kinkladze playing in Georgia amid political instability, and offered the player to
Atlético Madrid for approximately
£200,000; they gave him a trial, but no contract. He then trained with
Real Madrid's reserves, where he caught the eye of
Boca Juniors scouts, who took him to
Argentina for a month's loan. Kinkladze met his childhood hero
Diego Maradona, but did not gain a permanent contract, as manager
Silvio Marzolini regarded him as too similar to Boca's Argentine international playmaker
Alberto Márcico. In September 1994, Kinkladze was part of the
Georgian team that played
Moldova in Tbilisi. Italian clubs became interested in Kinkladze after seeing footage of his performance, and the Italian press nicknamed Kinkladze the "
Rivera of the Black Sea", but no concrete attempts to sign him took place. Two months later, Kinkladze scored his first international goal as Georgia defeated
Wales 5–0. Wales goalkeeper
Neville Southall later said of the game "They murdered us... [Kinkladze] was different class and the best player on the pitch by a mile." Kinkladze had scored 14 goals in 21 appearances, and clubs from several countries expressed interest in signing him. Jordania kept true to his agreement with Lee, and on 15 July 1995, Kinkladze signed for Manchester City. The fee was generally reported as £2 million. After initial difficulties obtaining a
work permit, Kinkladze made his debut for Manchester City against
Tottenham Hotspur in a 1–1 draw on 19 August 1995.
Manchester City Manchester City's form was poor during the
1995–96 season. The team failed to win a single league game in the first three months of the season, but Kinkladze quickly became a popular figure. Kinkladze's first goal for the club occurred in a 1–0 win against
Aston Villa, following a
one-two with
Niall Quinn. Kinkladze was initially homesick, as he was living in a hotel and spoke little English. In an effort to resolve his homesickness, his mother moved to Manchester to provide him with familiar food. By the time Manchester City travelled to
Middlesbrough on 9 December 1995, press and supporters regarded Kinkladze as the star player of the Manchester City side. The match against Middlesbrough was billed as a contest between Kinkladze and the Brazilian playmaker
Juninho. Kinkladze scored the opening goal with a solo effort, but the match ended 4–1 to Middlesbrough. However, the Middlesbrough fans subsequently voted Kinkladze the "Best Opposing Player of the Season". On 16 March 1996, Kinkladze scored a particularly spectacular goal in a 2–1 win against
Southampton. Kinkladze beat five players before
chipping the ball over Southampton goalkeeper
Dave Beasant. The goal won BBC programme
Match of the Day's "Goal of the Month", and placed second in the programme's "Goal of the Season" competition.
Internazionale, and
Celtic. The
1996–97 season proved a turbulent one for Manchester City, and over the course of the season, Kinkladze played for five different managers. With
Keith Curle no longer at the club, Kinkladze became the main
penalty taker, and also scored a number of goals from free-kicks, including a 35-yard (32 m) effort against
Swindon Town described by English newspaper
Manchester Evening News as "like a missile". In the First Division, Kinkladze frequently had two or even three opposing players assigned to
man mark him. Several teams chose to combat Kinkladze's playmaking skill with robust tackles; in one such match on 11 January 1997, against
Crystal Palace, Kinkladze had to be stretchered off following a challenge by
David Hopkin. Manchester City finished the season well below the promotion places, and again, there was speculation that Kinkladze would leave the club. At the final match of the season on 3 May 1997, a 3–2 win against
Reading, Manchester City supporters campaigned to keep Kinkladze at the club, even though he was not playing in the match, due to injury. The campaign even extended to the half-time advertisements on the scoreboard, the "adverts" being messages from supporter groups who had paid to display them. Kinkladze received back injuries requiring 30
stitches, and missed two matches as a result. Manchester City's downward trajectory toward the
Second Division continued in the
1997–98 season, and on 17 February 1998, manager
Frank Clark was sacked. His replacement,
Joe Royle, was appointed City manager on 18 February 1998. He had a reputation for playing defensive midfielders, which led to his
Everton team being nicknamed the "Dogs of War". Royle viewed Kinkladze as an unaffordable luxury in a relegation battle, and in his first board meeting as Manchester City manager, he opened proceedings with the words "We have to sell Kinkladze". After playing the first two games under Royle, a 1–2 loss on 18 February against
Ipswich Town, and a 3–1 win against
Swindon Town on 23 February, Kinkladze sustained an ankle injury, which sidelined him for a month. He made his return at
Port Vale on 14 March, despite having taken little part in training in the preceding week. Port Vale were a team with a physically robust approach, and used the muddy conditions to their advantage. Kinkladze was played out of position on the right wing, much to his displeasure, Vale defeated City 2–1, and Royle severely criticised Kinkladze for a lack of effort, dropping him for the next six games. In 2005, Royle explained his view of Kinkladze in his autobiography: "To the supporters he was the only positive in all that time. To me, he was a big negative. I am not saying that City's ills were all down to Kinkladze, but there was too much about the whole Kinkladze cult phenomenon that wasn't right ...too often since his arrival, the team had under-performed. I couldn't help deducing that contrary to popular opinion, he would be my weak link not my strong one." With two games remaining, Manchester City were in the relegation places, and Kinkladze was restored to the starting lineup for the home match against
Queens Park Rangers (QPR). The QPR team contained
Vinnie Jones, who had a violent reputation and played using the axiom "if their top geezer gets sorted out early doors, you win". Jones tried to apply his philosophy to Kinkladze, even targeting him in the tunnel before the start of the match. Kinkladze opened the scoring with a free kick, but City could not maintain their lead. Defending described by
The Observer's reporter as a "calamity" culminated in an unusual
own goal from
Jamie Pollock, and meant the match ended in a 2–2 draw. City were relegated for the second time in three seasons despite a final day 5–2 win against
Stoke City. In total, Kinkladze made 119 appearances for Manchester City, scoring 22 goals. He played regular international football during this period of his career, including in a 0–0 draw with three-time World Cup winners Italy. However, Kinkladze's spell at Ajax proved unsuccessful. He was originally signed as a replacement for
Jari Litmanen, but Litmanen stayed at Ajax as his proposed move to Barcelona fell through. As a result, Kinkladze played in an unfamiliar left-wing position. His league debut for Ajax came in a 2–0 win against
Willem II on 23 August 1998, "I could have been Maradona and he wouldn't have changed the system to accommodate me", Kinkladze recalled later. "I wasn't playing football and that made my life hell." Having failed to established himself in the first team and struggling with a succession of injuries, he made just 12 appearances for Ajax in his first season. In September 1999, Kinkladze held transfer talks with
Sheffield United, but no move materialised. Two months later, a return to England was secured in the form of a loan move to
Derby County.
Derby County , where Kinkladze played for
Derby County between 2000 and 2003. As Kinkladze was not playing regular international football when he signed for Derby, he was not automatically entitled to a work permit, but a review panel gave him special dispensation, due to his previous contribution to English football. the first of 14 loan appearances. He scored his first Derby goal on 4 March 2000 in a 4–0 win against
Wimbledon. At the end of the season, the loan move was made permanent. The transfer fee of £3 million set a club record that stood until 2007. Kinkladze missed the start of the
2000–01 season due to a hernia operation, to the disappointment of Smith, who expected him to become a leading figure at the club. He returned to the side as a substitute against Middlesbrough on 6 September 2000. With Derby 3–0 down, Kinkladze and
Malcolm Christie were introduced in a double substitution. The pair then proved influential as Derby came back to draw the match 3–3. During the next four months, Kinkladze was sometimes a starter and sometimes a substitute, rotating with
Stefano Eranio, until a groin injury sustained in the return match with Middlesbrough kept Kinkladze out for two months. The match against
Leeds United on 23 September 2000 was a rare success for him. He came on as a substitute with 17 minutes remaining and levelled the game 1–1 with a solo goal two minutes later, jinking between two defenders before curling a left-foot shot beyond the goalkeeper. Derby struggled for most of the season, but avoided relegation. Kinkladze stayed at the club, since his injuries and inability to prove himself led to a lack of serious offers. Around this time, he married Louise Tai, a
Mancunian. Louise then became a member of the
Orthodox Church and was christened in Tbilisi, receiving a new name – Mariam. Their first child, Saba, was born in October 2001. For Kinkladze, the start of the
2001–02 season followed a similar pattern to the previous season, comprising a mixture of starts and substitute appearances.
Jim Smith resigned from his managerial position at Derby on 7 October 2001, leaving Kinkladze, a Smith favourite, bitterly disappointed. The appointment of new manager
Colin Todd signalled a change in the club's playing style. Todd did not favour flair players, and Kinkladze made only a single substitute appearance in Todd's first two months in charge. Frustrated by a lack of opportunities, Kinkladze took the unusual step of using his lawyer to arrange a meeting with Todd to discuss his exclusion from the first team. Todd reacted by telling Kinkladze he could leave the club if he was unhappy. However, Todd was sacked on 14 January 2002 with Derby second from bottom of the Premier League, and
John Gregory was appointed as manager on 30 January 2002. Kinkladze stayed at the club, playing regular first team football in the remainder of the season, but Derby continued to struggle, and Kinkladze endured relegation for the third time in his career. The club, who were £35 million in debt, started an end-of-season clear-out to reduce their annual £17 million wage bill. Derby's actions included off-loading of some of the highest earners, and the manager informed Kinkladze that he had no future at the club. However, Kinkladze, whose contract ended in summer 2003, was reluctant to leave the club and turned down a move to Turkish champions
Galatasaray. As the club continued its attempts to terminate Kinkladze's contract, he trained with the reserve team up to 29 September 2002, missing Derby's first five matches of the
2002–03 season. He was brought back to the first team following two defeats, introduced as a substitute after an hour's stalemate against
Stoke City on 31 August. His introduction proved crucial in turning the game into a 2–0 win for Derby, as he took part in the build-up of both goals. He then missed a number of matches through injuries, featuring in around half of Derby's games in the remainder of 2002. In October 2002, Georgian national team manager
Aleksandr Chivadze unexpectedly omitted Kinkladze and captain
Georgi Nemsadze from the team for their match against
Russia, causing a stir in Georgia. Kinkladze, surprised and disappointed, said: "When I was out of form, he constantly phoned me, asked me about my play and called me to the team. Now I'm fit, scoring goals, but he didn't call me and even didn't phone." By January, because of the financial crisis at Derby, Kinkladze had not been paid for more than three months. He intended to quit, but although his agent admitted interest from German side
Hamburg and a second enquiry from Galatasaray, Derby finished the season in the bottom half of the table, and needed to reduce costs for the next season as their Premier League
parachute payments had ended. As a result, Derby offered Kinkladze a one-year contract, but on a wage one third of that of his previous contract. Kinkladze decided to turn down this contract extension proposal, desiring a move to a more successful club with a chance of winning trophies. To this end, he held talks with Liverpool in May 2003. As contract negotiations with Derby did not reach a positive conclusion, Kinkladze left the club. Without a club during pre-season, Kinkladze trained with
Portsmouth, where his former manager Jim Smith was on the managing staff. He played for Portsmouth in one pre-season friendly, but Portsmouth decided instead to sign another former Manchester City playmaker,
Eyal Berkovic. Over the next few months, he was linked with moves to Scottish clubs
Dundee and Celtic but none resulted in a contract offer. He also joined
Leeds United on trial, playing for the reserve team to earn a permanent contract, however after he reportedly turned up late to training sessions, then manager
Eddie Gray ended Kinkladze's trial spell. As a consequence, he had to train individually and lost his place in the national team again, this time before the return match against Russia. In December 2003, Kinkladze went for a one-week trial at
Panathinaikos, following an invitation from
Giannis Vardinogiannis, the owner of the Greek club. However, at the end of the trial, the club decided not to sign him. Six months later, he was linked with a move to Russian club
Shinnik Yaroslavl, but again, he was not offered a contract. In 2004, he had a trial with then
English Premier League side
Bolton Wanderers, playing in a couple of reserve team fixtures for them. However, the Bolton manager
Sam Allardyce decided against the move stating that he could not accommodate Kinkladze in the same team as
Jay-Jay Okocha.
Anorthosis Kinkladze's year and a half spell without a club came to an end in October 2004. Kinkladze's former international teammate
Temuri Ketsbaia was player-manager at financially troubled Cypriot team
Anorthosis. Ketsbaia gave his old friend a chance to rebuild his career, offering him a contract to play for Anorthosis. He made his debut against title contenders
APOEL on 21 November and marked it with a fine goal. He scored once more in a 5–0 home victory against
Olympiakos Nicosia, and in February he was recalled to Georgia's squad for the friendly against
Lithuania. His contract was initially only for one season, but the club extended it for another year. Anorthosis ended the season successfully by winning the
Cypriot championship and earned a place in the qualifying rounds of
2005–06 UEFA Champions League, where, thanks to the club's good run, Kinkladze played five times. He started both legs of a 2–1 first round aggregate win against
Dinamo Minsk, was twice a substitute in a 3–2 second round aggregate win against
Süper Lig runners-up
Trabzonspor, and played the full 90 minutes in a 1–2 third round home defeat against
Rangers. His display against Rangers caught the attention of
Rubin Kazan’s manager
Gurban Berdiýew, who invited him to join the Russian club. Ketsbaia said regarding the departure: "I don't want players who have no wish to play for Anorthosis. As far as I'm concerned the Kinkladze chapter is now closed."
Rubin Kazan Anorthosis and Rubin reached an agreement on 26 August. Kinkladze signed a contract until the end of the season, becoming the most decorated Georgian footballer to play in the
Russian Premier League. He made his debut for Rubin the next day, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–2 defeat against
FC Rostov. On a personal level the debut was a successful one; his
corner kick was headed into the net by
Vitalijs Astafjevs for Rubin's goal. He had less remarkable performances in the next two games and was substituted both times. This did not affect Berdyev's faith in him, and at a post-match press conference he defended Kinkladze: "He needs time. He is an experienced player who, I think, will help the team." Against
Tom Tomsk, he was less successful. Kinkladze missed a late penalty, denying Rubin a vital victory. After the match Berdyev claimed he made a mistake in his choice of penalty taker. Despite his misgivings Berdyev kept Kinkladze in the team, where he was used as one of three offensive midfielders in a
4–2–3–1 formation. Kinkladze, with his technical style and inclination for improvisation, brought more variety to the attacking play of the team, in contrast to the restrained style of play that Berdyev favoured. The most important of these was against
Zenit St. Petersburg, in a match that decided a place in the following year's
UEFA Cup. Subsequently, he received a recall to the Georgian national squad for friendlies against
Bulgaria and
Jordan. However, a muscle strain meant he missed both national team games and Rubin's final league match. He ended the 2005 season with seven assists and two goals in nine appearances for Rubin. but Kinkladze rejected the offer as he wished to stay at Rubin. By late December, Rubin expressed a desire to retain him but contract talks were delayed due to family reasons, and it took until mid-January for a new one-year contract to be agreed. During his successful 2005 season, 32-year-old Kinkladze said he hoped to play on well into his thirties. a 1–0 cup match defeat against
Shinnik which proved to be the last time he played a full match. A recurrence of an old injury meant he was sidelined for longer than expected, only making his return to full training in late May. Kinkladze continued to struggle to maintain fitness, making five further appearances for Rubin, two of which were starts. but did not play or appear on the substitutes' bench. A short time later he had to undergo another course of medical treatment. He also passed a thorough medical examination, the results of which were reported as the deciding factor for his future at the club. In October, he was an unused substitute just once; he and his compatriots were the subject of criticism from Rubin's general director who announced to the press "there are questions about the Georgians in the team regarding their training and attitude to football". In November, Kinkladze again suffered an injury and missed the remainder of the season. After a disappointing year for Kinkladze, Rubin decided not to renew his contract. In an interview in August 2007 Kinkladze's former international teammate
Malkhaz Asatiani confirmed that Kinkladze had finished his career and settled in
Moscow. Kinkladze later worked as a
sports agent, and in August 2011 returned to his former club Anorthosis, where he was employed as sports director until an amicable departure in June 2012. Kinkladze participated in Rangers Weekend of Legends II on 26 March 2023
International career In September 1994, Kinkladze was called up to the Georgian national team for a match against Moldova in Tbilisi. Just two months later, Kinkladze played two unforgettable matches against Wales. He scored his first international goal in a 5–0 victory at the Boris Paichadze National Stadium in Tbilisi. In the return match at Cardiff Arms Park, several club scouts witnessed Kinkladze score from 18 meters past Neville Southall. On October 11, 1995, during a UEFA Euro 1996 qualifier at the Boris Paichadze National Stadium, Kinkladze scored from the penalty spot in a 2–0 win over Bulgaria. On June 7, 1997, in a 1998 World Cup qualifier held at the Batumi Central Stadium, Kinkladze scored the second goal in a 2–0 win against Moldova. Kinkladze scored his third international goal on October 7, 2000, in a 2002 World Cup qualifier against Lithuania. The match was played in Kaunas at the S. Darius and S. Girėnas Stadium, and Georgia won 4–0. ==Style of play==