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Nika Tchanturia
Nika Tchanturia (Georgian: ნიკა ჭანტურია; born 19 January 1995) is a retired Georgian footballer who played as a central defender. Regarded as one of the distinguished talents of his generation,[1] Tchanturia took part in 302 official matches across all competitions and spent most of his career at Locomotive before announcing his retirement at 29. Tchanturia captained two national youth teams and won the Georgian Cup in 2015 with Dinamo Tbilisi. He is also the two-time winner of the national supercup. CareerClub careerTchanturia started his professional career at his childhood club Locomotive. On 9 October 2011, the 16 year-old player made his debut in a league match against Meshakhte in the 2nd division.[2] After taking part in 37 league games for Locomotive, Tchanturia was loaned to Torpedo Kutaisi in 2013.[3] He made his first appearance in UEFA Europa League against MŠK Žilina on 7 July 2013.[4] In the summer of 2014, Tchanturia joined Dinamo Tbilisi, where shortly he was selected as captain at age 20.[5] On 5 March 2015, Tchanturia sustained an injury in a 3–2 home win against Zestaponi, which saw him out of action for ten months following surgery on his cross ligaments performed in Stuttgart.[6] Tchanturia returned to the pitch in a cup game against Torpedo on 16 December 2015,[7] but as he later revealed, he never fully recovered. In January 2016, Tchanturia signed a contract with Locomotive[8] who he was to represent for next six seasons. Before starting his final fourth spell at this club in 2023, Tchanturia played one season at Shukura,[9] followed by another year at Gagra[10] On 13 January 2025, Tchanturia announced his decision to retire citing his injury problems. On the same day, he was appointed as Locomotive's sports director.[11] InternationalChanturia was the captain of U17s who made history by reaching semifinals of the 2012 UEFA European Under-17 Championship. He had scored in a 2–1 win over Moldova in the 1st qualifying round,[12] helping the team advance into the next round. A year later, Tchanturia took part in all six 2013 UEFA European U19 Championship qualifiers. He was also called up to U21s, making his debut in a 1–0 away win against Holland.[13] StatisticsClub
HonoursDinamo Tbilisi
Personal lifeTchanturia is married to model, football blogger and anchor Nia Tsivtsivadze, the granddaughter of Murad Tsivtsivadze (1943–2020),[14] who was a member of Torpedo Kutaisi as a goalkeeper, captain and later head coach and guided the club to promotion to the Soviet Top League in 1981.[15] References
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