It isn’t always the big names that make the headlines, whether it be transfer related or in terms of the levels of their performance, and one relatively unknown name is already turning heads in the Premier League.
Goals win you games, and when a striker that has scored 25 goals in 43 appearances (per WhoScored) becomes available, then clubs are going to be interested.
Although he’s been ripping it up in France’s Ligue 2 this season, you’d be hard pressed to know much about Metz and Ligue 2 top-scorer, Georges Mikautadze.
The Georgian has had a remarkable season, and if his side don’t make it into the top division this season, he could be available for as little as €15m, according to a tweet from Mohamed Toubache-Ter, the manager of communication at Angers:
Georges Mikautadze, c’est 15M€ !!
En cas de montée en @Ligue1UberEats (ce que je souhaite vivement au @FCMetz) le club fera le maximum pr le conserver même si cela s’annonce très compliqué.
En cas de non montée: bien calme en France mais brûlant en Angleterre. #FCMetz— Mohamed TOUBACHE-TER (@MohamedTERParis) May 10, 2023
Writing in his exclusive CaughtOffside Substack, senior journalist, Jonathan Johnson, noted that there’s been a lot of interest in the player of late.
‘Georges Mikautadze’s a player that has interested a number of European clubs recently, and he’s obviously doing very well in terms of his stats in Ligue 2,’ he wrote.
‘There’s no guarantee that Metz will be one of the two teams going up from Ligue 2 to Ligue 1 at the end of this season as they’re vying for that second place behind Le Havre, and we’ll see how it pans out in the last couple of rounds of games.’
Although nothing will be agreed before the end of the current campaign, predominantly because should Metz get promoted it’s unlikely they’d allow Mikautadze to leave, Premier League clubs are circling and seemingly getting ready to make their moves if and when the opportunity presents itself.
‘Most of the Premier League interest in him has come from clubs that are outside of the traditional top four, but who are looking to break into that bracket of being regular European qualifiers,’ Johnson continued.
‘Given his stats he could be an interesting alternative for some European clubs playing in the Champions League next season.’
At €15m, it’s not even a gamble for those clubs that have been following his progress. Should he not be able to transfer his output to the English top-flight, moving him on is unlikely to be an issue given the original outlay.