Mamardashvili spent much of his youth years at Dinamo Tbilisi. After signing a professional contract with this club, he was loaned to other Erovnuli Liga teams for three seasons before his transfer to Valencia. He has quickly established himself as a first-choice shot-stopper, becoming the first ever Georgian goalkeeper in the Spanish top tier.
Club career
Dinamo Tbilisi
Born in Tbilisi, Mamardashvili joined Dinamo Tbilisi's youth setup in 2012, from Gagra.[2] After featuring as an unused substitute in the first team for most of the 2018 season, he was loaned to Rustavi for the 2019 campaign.
Loan to Rustavi
Mamardashvili made his senior debut on 2 March 2019, starting in a 4–1 away loss against Locomotive Tbilisi.[3] After contributing with 28 appearances and helping his side to avoid relegation, he made another loan move to Locomotive Tbilisi.
Loan to Locomotive Tbilisi
Mamardashvili was hailed during Locomotive's UEFA Europa League campaign in 2020. According to newspaper Marca, his performance against Granada drew attention from Spanish scouts.[4]
In January 2021, he was named by UEFA as one of 50 young talents expected to shine in the future.[6]
Valencia
On 7 June 2021, Mamardashvili joined La Liga club Valencia on a one-year loan deal, with a buyout clause, and was initially assigned to the reserves in Tercera División RFEF.[7][8] He made the pre-season with the main squad, impressing manager José Bordalás[9] and earning himself the starting spot in the league opener against Getafe on 13 August, which ended 1–0 for Los Che.[10]
On 31 December 2021, Valencia confirmed the permanent signing of Mamardashvili on a contract until 2024, with an option for a further year.[11]
During that season, Mamardashvili participated in 18 league matches and kept eight clean sheets. He recorded 560 minutes in a row without conceding a goal.[12] He was twice included in La Liga's symbolic team of the week (Matchweeks 1 and 35). Additionally, he received the player of the match award on three occasions.[13] In May 2022, Marca named Mamardashvili in the La Liga's Discovery of the Season team.[14]
The next season Mamardashvili took part in all 38 league games without being substituted. He was selected in La Liga's team of the week three times.[15] Based on votes from Valencia fans, Mamardashvili was named the best player in 2023, while he had come 2nd behind Gonçalo Guedes the previous year.[16]
On 28 January 2024, Mamardashvili became part of club history. He broke the team record with his 60th consecutive appearance in La Liga as a starter.[17] Eventually, he played in 69 league matches in a row. Overall, during his third season at the club Mamardashvili continued to achieve impressive results, namely, improving his clean sheet record (13), saving the most penalties (3) along with Unai Simon and preventing the most goals in La Liga.[18]
Based on his performances this season, Mamardashvili was nominated for the Yashin trophy annually awarded by France Football to the best goalkeeper in world football.[19] At the Ballon d'Or ceremony held in Paris on 28 October 2024, he took seventh place.
Liverpool
On 27 August 2024, Valencia and Premier League club Liverpool confirmed that Mamardashvili would be joining the club at the start of the 2025–26 season.[20][21]
On 9 June 2022, he played his first official match in a 3–0 win over North Macedonia in the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League.[23] For his performance in the return leg (2–0) in September, Mamardashvili was named in Team of the Week after round 5,[24][25] and whoscored.com included him in monthly and seasonal Best XI of League C.[26]
In the summer of 2023, Mamardashvili took part in three games in UEFA European Under-21 Championship for Georgia U21s, who had a highly successful group stage campaign and reached quarter-finals for the first time in their history.[27]
On 26 March 2024, Georgia defeated Greece 4–2 in a penalty shoot-out in the play-off final to qualify for UEFA Euro 2024, the nation's first ever major international tournament. Mamardashvili was a critical factor in this game, saving the first spot kick from Greek forward Anastasios Bakasetas.
Mamardashvili was selected by Georgia for the Euro 2024 finals in Germany.[28] He started in his side's first match in a major competition, a 3–1 loss against Turkey on 19 June.[29] After making eleven saves in the next game against the Czech Republic, Mamardashvili received the player of the match award.[30] Analytical sites such as Sofascore, Marca and 90min.com named him in the Team of match day 2, with the former awarding him the second highest aggregate rating point after Spanish midfielder Fabián Ruiz.[31][32][33] In the team's third Group F match, Mamardashvili kept a clean sheet against Portugal, as Georgia won 2–0 to qualify for the knockout stage.[34] He ended the group stage having made 20 saves, seven more than any other goalkeeper at the tournament.[35]
^"Giorgi Mamardashvili" (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
^"გაგრელი მწვრთნელის ხსოვნას ტურნირი მიეძღვნა" [The tournament was dedicated to the memory of Gagreli coach]. worldsport.ge (in Georgian). 27 October 2010. Archived from the original on 15 September 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
^"Georgia vs Israel". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 July 2023. Archived from the original on 21 November 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
