Giorgi Arabidze Explained

Giorgi Arabidze (Georgian: გიორგი არაბიძე; born 4 March 1998) is a Georgian professional footballer who plays as a winger for K League 1 club Ulsan HD.

He is the winner of several trophies in the Ukrainian, Georgian and South Korean leagues. Arabidze has represented the national senior as well as all junior teams.

Career

Club career

Arabidze is a product of the FC Locomotive Youth Sportive system from age 7.^[1]

In June 2015 he signed a contract with Ukrainian football club FC Shakhtar.^[2] Arabidze made an official debut for the Ukrainian club three months later against Ternopil in the Ukrainian Cup, spending the full 90 minutes on the pitch.^{[3] [4]}

Arabidze featured again for Shakhtar on the last day of October, making his debut in the Ukrainian Premier League, playing the last 15 minutes of the game against Zorya Luhansk.^[5]

Arabidze was included in the UEFA Youth League squad for the same season as well. He made a debut in this tournament against Malmö FF, scoring a single goal and contributing one assist in a 5–5 draw.^{[6] [7]}

On 3 July 2018 he signed 4-year contract with Portuguese club C.D. Nacional.^[8]

On 17 January 2021, he joined Russian club Rotor Volgograd on loan until the end of the 2020–21 season.^[9]

On 25 January 2022, he signed with Torpedo Kutaisi.^[10] During his second season with this club, Arabidze became their top scorer by netting 14 goals which helped the team to win the bronze medals of the league. His performance was duly recognized by the Erovnuli Liga by naming him Midfielder of the Year. Besides, along with two other teammates Arabidze was included in the list of eleven best players of the season.^[11]

In July 2024, Arabidze moved to South Korea to play for K League 1 club Ulsan HD.^[12] In his second league appearance for Ulsan on 31 August, Arabidze got on the scoresheet with a brace in a 5–4 win over Pohang.^[13] After making ten appearances in all competitions, he lifted the league trophy as Ulsan secured their third straight title.^[14]

International career

In 2017, after being a regular member of the youth sides of Georgia national football team, Arabidze made his debut for the senior national team against Serbia in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match.^[15] Two days later he scored his first goal for the team against Latvia in a friendly game.^[16]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Locomotive Tbilisi	2013/14	Pirveli Liga	16	8	1	1	0	0	0	0	17	9
	2014/15		17	13	0	0	0	0	1	0	18	13
	Total		33	21	1	1	0	0	1	0	35	22
Shakhtar Donetsk	2015/16	Ukrainian Premier League	2	0	1	0	0	0	3	1	6	1
	2016/17		1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2017/18		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		3	0	1	0	0	0	3	1	7	1
Nacional		Primeira Liga	10	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	11	1
Adanaspor (loan)	2019/20	TFF First League	6	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	7	2
Rotor Volgograd (loan)	2020/21	Russian Premier League	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
Samtredia (loan)	2021	Erovnuli Liga	15	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	15	3
Torpedo Kutaisi	2022	Erovnuli Liga	29	5	4	0	0	0	0	0	33	5
	2023		30	14	1	0	4	2	2	0	37	16
	2024		14	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	5
	Total		73	24	5	0	4	2	2	0	84	26
Ulsan	2024	K League 1	6	2	1	0	3	0	0	0	10	2
Career total			150	51	10	3	7	2	6	1	173	57

International goals

Scores and results list Georgia's goal tally first.^[17]

No	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	28 March 2017			align=center	5–0	align=center	5–0	Friendly
2.	7 June 2017			align=center	1–0	3–0	Friendly
3.				align=center	2–0

Honours

Team

Shakhtar Donetsk

• Ukrainian Premier League

(2) 2016–17, 2017–18

• Ukrainian Cup

(3) 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18

• Ukrainian Super Cup

(2) 2015, 2017

Torpedo Kutaisi

• Georgian Cup

(1) 2022

• Georgian Super Cup

(1) 2024

Ulsan HD

• K League

(1) 2024

Individual

• Midfielder of the Year: 2023
• Team of the Season: 2023

External links

• • UEFA Profile

Notes and References

1. Web site: dynamomania.com. ru:Арабидзе и "Шахтер": чего ожидать от новичка дончан?. http://www.dynamomania.com/news/291350-arabidze-i-shahter-chego-ozhidat-ot-novichka-donchan. ru. 2015-10-15.
2. Web site: Shakhtar.com. Mircea Lucescu invited U21 players to senior team's training. English. 2015-07-20.
3. Web site: Shakhtar.com. Shakhtar 4-0 Ternopil. English. 2015-10-27.
4. Web site: Shakhtar.com. Giorgi Arabidze – among youngest debutants. English. 2015-10-27.
5. Web site: Shakhtar.com. Zorya 1-7 Shakhtar. English. 2015-10-30.
6. Web site: Shakhtar.com. U19. Malmo 5-5 Shakhtar. English. 2015-10-21.
7. Web site: Shakhtar.com. U19. Malmo vs Shakhtar: players' view. English. 2015-10-21.
8. Web site: Giorgi Arabidze assina por quatro temporadas. Portuguese. 3 July 2018. 3 July 2018. C.D. Nacional.
9. Web site: FC Rotor Volgograd. Арабидзе перешел в "Ротор" на правах аренды. 17 January 2021. ru.
10. Web site: Torpedo Kutaisi. გიორგი არაბიძე ტორპედოელია!. 25 January 2022. 25 January 2022. ka.
11. Web site: AWARDS 2023 CBELIGA . crystalsport.ge . 4 December 2023 . KA.
12. Web site: ! ! . Ulsan HD FC . 31 July 2024 . 31 July 2024.
13. Web site: Ulsan vs Pohang match report . flashscore.com . 31 August 2024.
14. Web site: Ulsan HD FC capture 3rd straight K League 1 title . yna.co.kr . 1 November 2024.
15. Web site: UEFA.com. Georgia 1-3 Serbia (Match Report). English. 2017-03-24.
16. Web site: Guardian. Georgia 5-0 Latvia (Match Report). English. 2017-03-28.
17. Web site: Arabidze, Giorgi. National Football Teams. 28 March 2017.