Jano Ananidze ( ka, ჯანო ანანიძე, ; ; born 10 October 1992) is a Georgian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Club career

Spartak Moscow

Ananidze appeared in

Spartak Moscow Spartak Moscow may refer to the following teams based or formerly based in Moscow, Russia: * FC Spartak Moscow, an association football club * HC Spartak Moscow, a professional ice hockey team * Spartak GM Moscow, a semi-professional rugby club * WB ...

colours in spring of 2009, initially playing for its junior's team, scoring four goals in twelve games. During the midseason break

Valery Karpin Valery Georgiyevich Karpin (russian: Валерий Георгиевич Карпин; born 2 February 1969) is a football manager and former player who manages FC Rostov and the Russian national team. He is a former midfielder, primarily a r ...

moved Ananidze from juniors into the main team, then on a training tour in Austria. Ananidze debuted in Russian Cup on 15 July 2009, scoring a goal against first division

Krasnodar Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southe ...

. On 1 August 2009, Ananidze debuted in regular Russian Premier League 2009 championship, substituting Alex in the 69th minute of the game. On 18 October 2009, he became the youngest player ever to score a goal in the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 2001 ...

(he scored for Spartak Moscow against

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (''FC Lokomotiv Moskva'', russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб "Локомотив" Москва, ) is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three oc ...

when he was 17 years and 8 days old). After a successful ending of his debut season, Jano was on the radar of Arsenal,

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

and Juventus. Spartak Moscow sporting director Dmitri Popov insisted the club would not listen to offers until Ananidze was at least in his 20s. In September 2012, before the 2014 World Cup qualification match against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, Iker Casillas named Ananidze as one of the key players of the

Georgia national football team The Georgia national football team ( ka, საქართველოს ეროვნული საფეხბურთო ნაკრები, tr) represents the country of Georgia in men's international football matches, and it is c ...

alongside the keeper

Giorgi Loria Giorgi Loria ( ka, გიორგი ლორია, ; born 27 January 1986) is a Georgian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Cypriot First Division club Anorthosis Famagusta FC. Club career During the 2014–15 season, Lor ...

. On 21 January 2020, his contract with Spartak was terminated by mutual consent, 13 years after he originally joined the club's academy.

FC Rostov

On 3 July 2013, he went on a one-year loan to

FC Rostov FC Rostov (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб Ростов) is a Russian professional football club based in Rostov-on-Don, Rostov Oblast. The club are members of the Russian Premier League, and play at the Rostov Arena. After the ...

Krylia Sovetov Samara

On 13 January 2019, he joined Krylia Sovetov Samara on loan until the end of the 2018–19 season.

Rotor Volgograd

On 6 August 2020, he returned to

and signed with Rotor Volgograd. His Rotor contract was terminated by mutual consent on 12 September 2020 due to a knee injury.

Dinamo Tbilisi

In April 2021, Ananidze returned to his native Georgia, joining

Dinamo Tbilisi Dinamo Tbilisi is a sports club from Tbilisi, Georgia. It was founded in 1925. Among its highest honors, is the European trophy earned by its football team which won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1981, beating FC Carl Zeiss Jena of East Germany 2–1 ...

. In April 2022, Jano announced his retirement ended his career due to multiple injuries. For the last three months he played in FC Dynamo Batumi and during this period he appeared on the field for only 122 minutes in total.

International career

In March 2009

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

web site listed Ananidze as one of three "key players" of Georgian U-17 team along with

Nika Dzalamidze Nika Dzalamidze ( ka, ნიკა ძალამიძე; born 6 January 1992) is a Georgian former professional footballer who played as a winger. Career Club On 18 December 2009, CSKA Moscow signed Dzalamidze on loan from Baia Zugdidi. ...

and Irakli Shekiladze. In July 2009 Ananidze received and accepted

Héctor Cúper Héctor Raúl Cúper (; born 16 November 1955) is an Argentine football manager and former player. As a player, he was a defender who spent most of his career at Club Ferro Carril Oeste, where played 463 games. His nickname was "Cabezón" ("Big ...

's invitation into Georgian national team. Ananidze told Russian media "don't worry about me. I made my choice. I am a Georgian and I will play for my country." (russian: "переживать не стоит. Я сделал свой выбор. Я грузин и буду играть за сборную своей страны"). He made his debut for

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

in a 2–0 home defeat by

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

on 5 September 2009. He scored his first goal against

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

in Koper on 17 November 2010. Then he scored against

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...

from the penalty spot and

won this match 2–0 on 11 November 2011.

Career statistics

Club

Ananidze Stats
/ref>

International

:''Scores and results list Georgia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ananidze goal.''

Honours

Spartak Moscow *

: 2016–17 *

Russian Super Cup The Russian Super Cup () is a one-match football annual competition. Its official sponsored name is ''OLIMPBET Russian Supercup'' (). The two participating clubs are the Russian Premier League champions and the Russian Cup winners. If the Premie ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

Rostov * Russian Cup: 2013–14 Dinamo Batumi * Georgian Super Cup: 2022

References

External links

Player profile at Spartak official web-site
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ananidze, Jano 1992 births Living people People from Kobuleti Footballers from Georgia (country) Association football midfielders Georgia (country) international footballers Georgia (country) youth international footballers Georgia (country) under-21 international footballers FC Spartak Moscow players FC Rostov players PFC Krylia Sovetov Samara players Anorthosis Famagusta F.C. players FC Rotor Volgograd players FC Dinamo Tbilisi players FC Dinamo Batumi players Russian Premier League players Cypriot First Division players Georgian people of Russian descent Expatriate footballers from Georgia (country) Expatriate footballers in Ukraine Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Ukraine Expatriate footballers in Russia Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Russia Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Cyprus