With 24 goals in all competitions, Metz’s striker helped his team, which had been relegated the year before, beat Bordeaux on the last day to gain promotion back to the top division.
The Georgian international has unavoidably drawn interest from beyond Lorraine, in particular from clubs on the opposite side of the Channel. He was previously on loan at Belgian team Seraing for two seasons.
Although the Rossoneri have moved on from the 22-year-old due to Paolo Maldini’s departure, Foot Mercato suggests that Milan were also keeping an eye on him. Burnley, a Premier League team in particular, is still in the running to sign the striker. Vincent Kompany, the manager of the promoted team, has spokenthe Clarets’ concept to Mikautadze on multiple occasions, and he has made the forward one of his priority recruits for 2017
The Georgian was apparently the target of a €2.5 million offer from the Clarets, who were eager to bolster their forward line. However, it appears that their proposal was rejected, dealing them a setback as the transfer season nears its conclusion.
Since numerous important players have recently left the club, Lancs Live estimates it will take an offer of about £4.2m, or roughly double what they offered, to convince him to leave the French second-tier team.
They failed to make any money for people like James Tarkowski and Ben Mee, but they were successful in making a lot of money for others like Nick Pope, Nathan Collins, Dwight McNeil, and Maxwel Cornet.
They have also not been afraid to spend because of this, forking out transfer fees for 10 players this summer but are still likely to make a considerable profit considering how much revenue they generated from outgoings.
The Clarets do need to adjust to the financial conditions of the second tier though amid their previous financial worries – and Kompany believes they may not be able to afford Mikautadze.
The Belgian said: “It is a difficult one. There are some players that are out of our range financially. For us it is a player who is probably out of our range.”
Considering they already have Ashley Barnes and Jay Rodriguez at their disposal, having a younger option could be beneficial for the Clarets to provide a nice mix of youth and experience in the forward department.
He may also be a better option than Liam Delap who would have only come in on loan – and could be a prolific scorer for the Clarets after recording nine goals in the Belgian top tier last season.
Also returning to France and making a good start to 2022/23, he has shown he can step up to the plate and be a force in different countries and this can only bode well for Kompany’s side if they do manage to secure an agreement for him.
You would also think it wouldn’t be a huge task to get a work permit for him, so this is a deal they could probably pull off if they are willing to pay the amount needed to lure him to Turf Moor.
However, the second-tier side shouldn’t be forced into paying a high amount for his services even though they should still have a decent amount of transfer funds at their disposal.
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