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 lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

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 * ...

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 (; born 2 February 1969) is a Russian football manager and former player who manages the Russian national team and Russian Premier League club Dynamo Moscow. As a player, he was a midfielder and spent most of his car ...

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 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

Krasnodar Krasnodar, formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern Russia, with a population of 1,154,885 residents, and up to 1.263 millio ...

. On 1 August 2009, Ananidze debuted in regular

2009 Russian Premier League The 2009 Russian Premier League was the 18th season of the Russian Association football, football championship since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and 8th under the current Russian Premier League name. The season started on 14 March 2009 wi ...

championship, substituting

Alex Alex is a given name. Similar names are Alexander, Alexandra, Alexey or Alexis. People Multiple * Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Cook (disambiguation), multiple people * Alex Forsyth (disambiguation), multiple people * Al ...

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; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

when he scored for Spartak Moscow against

Lokomotiv Moscow FC Lokomotiv Moscow (, ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Lokomotiv have won the Russian Premier League on three occasions; the Soviet Cup twice; and the Russian Cup (football), Russian Cup a record ...

at the age of 17 years and 8 days. After a successful ending of his debut season, Jano was on the radar of

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

and

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

. 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 Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Iker Casillas Iker Casillas Fernández (; born 20 May 1981) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and currently works as a football commentator. Popularly dubbed "''San Iker''" ("Saint Iker") for his ability to produce miracu ...

named Ananidze as one of the key players of the Georgia national team 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 Dinamo Tbilisi. During his long career Loria has played in five different leagues and become th ...

. 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 () is a Russian professionalism in association football, professional football club based in Rostov-on-Don. The club competes in the Russian Premier League, playing their home matches at the Rostov Arena. History Soviet era (1930-199 ...

Krylia Sovetov Samara

On 13 January 2019, he joined

Krylia Sovetov Samara PFC Krylia Sovetov Samara () is a Russian professional football club based in Samara that plays in the Russian Premier League. In 2004, they finished third in the Russian Premier League. History Krylia Sovetov was founded in Kuybyshev (now Sama ...

on loan until the end of the 2018–19 season.

Rotor Volgograd

On 6 August 2020, he returned to

and signed with

Rotor Volgograd SC Rotor Volgograd () is a Russian professional football club from the large city of Volgograd, Volgograd Oblast (formerly Stalingrad). The club plays in the second-tier Russian First League, and are the largest and best supported Volgograd club. ...

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

Dinamo Tbilisi

On 29 April 2021, Ananidze returned to his native Georgia, joining

Dinamo Tbilisi Dinamo Tbilisi is a sports club from Tbilisi, Georgia (country), Georgia. It was founded in 1925. Among its highest honors, is the European trophy earned by its Association football, football team which won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1981, beating ...

on a one-year contract, with the option of an additional year. On 3 December 2021, Dinamo Tbilisi announced the departure of Ananidze after playing only 26 minutes for the club. In April 2022, Jano announced his retirement ended his career due to multiple injuries. For the last three months he played in

Dinamo Batumi FC Dinamo Batumi ( ka, საფეხბურთო კლუბი დინამო ბათუმი) is a Georgian professional football club based in Batumi, Adjara that competes in the Erovnuli Liga, the top division of the national f ...

and during this period he appeared on the field for only 122 minutes in total.

International career

In March 2009

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

web site listed Ananidze as one of three "key players" of Georgian U-17 team along with Nika Dzalamidze 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 who was most recently head coach of the Syria national team. As a player, he was a defender who spent most of his career at Ferro Carril Oeste, w ...

's invitation to the Georgia 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." (). He made his debut for Georgia in a 2–0 home defeat by

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

on 5 September 2009. He scored his first goal against

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

Koper Koper (; ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, fifth-largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Slovenian Istria, Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, Koper is the main urban center of the Slovene coast. Port of Koper i ...

on 17 November 2010. Then he scored against

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

from the penalty spot and Georgia won this match 2–0 on 11 November 2011.

Career statistics

Club

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 (soccer), football annual competition. Its official sponsored name is ''OLIMPBET Russian Supercup'' (). The two participating clubs are the Russian Premier League champions and the Rambler Russian ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Rostov * Russian Cup: 2013–14 Dinamo Batumi *

Georgian Super Cup The Georgian Super Cup is a super cup tournament in Georgian football. Founded in 1996 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2023 by four teams, those being the first, second, and third placed teams in the Erovnul ...

: 2022

References

External links

Player profile at Spartak official web-site
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ananidze, Jano 1992 births Living people People from Kobuleti Footballers from Adjara Men's footballers from Georgia (country) Men's association football midfielders Georgia (country) men's international footballers Georgia (country) men's youth international footballers 21st-century sportsmen from Georgia (country) Georgia (country) men's under-21 international footballers FC Spartak Moscow players FC Rostov players PFC Krylia Sovetov Samara players Anorthosis Famagusta FC 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 men's footballers from Georgia (country) Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Cyprus