Zurab Khizanishvili

Zurab Khizanishvili (Georgian: ზურაბ ხიზანიშვილი; born 6 October 1981) is a Georgian footballer who plays for Inter Baku PIK in the Azerbaijan Premier League as a defender.

Early career

Khizanishvili started his career at Dinamo Tbilisi where he remained for just one season, before joining FC Tbilisi to improve his chances of playing regular first team football.

In 1999 he was on the move again, joining his previous two clubs' city rivals Lokomotiv Tbilisi. Khizanishvili's form at Lokomotiv piqued the interest of some of Europe's top clubs, though the player's latter days at the club were marred by injury. Khizanishvili was eventually released after his contract with Lokomotiv was terminated.

Scotland

In March 2001, Khizanishvili joined Dundee, having had unsuccessful trials at Arsenal, Fulham and West Ham United.

He quickly made an impact at Dens Park, alerting fellow Scottish Premier League team Rangers, whom Khizanishvili joined on a Bosman transfer in June 2003 as a replacement for wantaway Blackburn Rovers-bound defender Lorenzo Amoruso.

Despite making 35 appearances in his first campaign at Ibrox, Khizanishvili gradually fell out of favour and, on 31 August 2005, he was allowed to move on loan for the rest of the season to Blackburn in the English FA Premier League. During his loan spell at Blackburn he scored once in the league, in a 2–0 home win over Manchester City, and once in the League Cup in a 3–1 win over Huddersfield Town.

England

On 10 April 2006, he signed a permanent deal with Blackburn Rovers in a deal rumoured to be worth around about £500,000. Since joining the Ewood Park outfit, Khizanishvili has struggled to hold down a regular starting position, instead usually playing when injuries and/or suspensions have ruled other defenders out of games. His first appearance of the 2009–10 campaign for Rovers came on 25 August, when he started the League Cup 2nd Round tie against Gillingham at the Priestfield Stadium, playing the full 90 minutes alongside Gael Givet in a 3–1 win.

Under Paul Ince and Sam Allardyce he failed to break into the first team on a consistent basis, and on 17 September 2009 Khizanishvili joined Championship team Newcastle United on loan in a three-month deal. He returned to Blackburn on 19 December after an unsuccessful loan deal expired at St. James' Park. On 25 January 2010, he signed for Reading on loan for the remainder of the 2009–10 season. On 31 August 2010, he rejoined Reading on a season long loan for the 2010–11 season and was handed the number 15 shirt at the Madejski Stadium. On 13 March 2011, Khizanishvili completed the full 90 minutes against Manchester City at Eastlands in a 1–0 FA Cup quarter-final loss. On 30 May 2011, he started the Championship play-off final against Swansea City. Khizanishvili was booked after 12 minutes and then conceded a penalty kick after 20 minutes, due to a clumsy challenge on winger Nathan Dyer. Reading went on to lose 4–2 and he was rated as "flop of the match". Khizanishvili ended his second loan spell with Reading having made 29 appearances in all competitions, including 24 league outings.

Turkey

After his release from Blackburn, Khizanishvili joined Kayserispor, where he played for three seasons.

Azerbaijan

In June 2015, Khizanishvili signed a six-month contract with Azerbaijan Premier League side Inter Baku PIK.

As of match played 19 August 2016

Khizanishvili played 93 matches for Georgia national football team. He scored his only goal against Moldova on 6 June 2009.

Zurab Khizanishvili: International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	2009-06-06	Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi, Georgia	Moldova	1 – 2	1–2	Friendly

Club

Rangers

• League Cup: 2004–05

Individual

• SFWA Young Player of the Year: 2002–03

Khizanishvili is married to the Georgian model Salome Ghviniashvili and they have three children. He is the son of former USSR international defender Nodar Khizanishvili.