Shota Arveladze

He is Georgia’s all-time top scorer with 291 goals in his 410 league games for his clubs and 26 goals in his 61 games for the national team.

In June 2016 Arveladze was announced as the new head coach of Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. Around the middle of the season, Arveladze was fired due to series of poor results on his side.

During a legal case in 2015, Arveladze's agent claimed that the true transfer fee had been 12 million Euro, the equivalent of £8.5 million at the time. Arveladze scored the 300th goal in the SPL and was part of Rangers squads that won the domestic treble in 2002–03 and a double in 2004–05.

On 3 July 2015, Arveladze was named manager of Turkish side Trabzonspor. Arveladze resigned on November 2015 after back to back poor results with the team.

He scored 23 goals, accumulating total 48 goals for AZ in 89 competitive appearances. The Georgian striker scored 7 goals in UEFA Cup as well, two of them in Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium in a 2–1 away win against Sevilla.

From 2012 to 2015, Arveladze managed Istanbul-based Kasımpaşa SK.

For the 2010–11 season, Arveladze served as manager of Turkish side Kayserispor.

Under the guidance of Louis van Gaal, Arveladze became the key figure of the club. He scored 22 goals in Eredivisie, becoming the second best top-scorer of the tournament after Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who scored 33 goals during the season. Alkmaar participated in UEFA Cup this time as well. In 6 game for the club, Arveladze made 2 assists and scored 2 goals, one of them against Real Betis. At the end of the season, AZ Alkmaar and Arveladze agreed a contract extension to keep the Georgian international striker at the Dutch club until the summer of 2008.

After retiring as a player, Arveladze was appointed as assistant manager of AZ under head coach and former Ajax coach Louis van Gaal in July 2008. He maintained this position in the 2009–10 season under Ronald Koeman and Dick Advocaat.

In July 2007, Arveladze passed a medical and agreed a one-year contract with the Spanish club Levante.

In May 2005, Arveladze declared that he will leave the club after the end of the season, in which he managed to scored 9 goals. He confirmed receiving offers from the various clubs throughout Europe, including the teams from England, Germany, the Netherlands and Turkey.

Arveladze departed Rangers for Dutch side AZ on a free transfer before the start of 2005–06 season, signing a two-year deal with the club.

The following season was the most successful in the career of the Georgian player. Rangers won treble. In March 2003, Rangers defeated their arch-rivals Celtic in League Cup Final. Later in Scottish Cup Final, Rangers won another title, after they managed to defeat Dundee with a goal from Lorenzo Amoruso. Arveladze's two compatriots, Georgi Nemsadze and Zurab Khizanishvili also took part in this game. The latter joined Arveladze at Rangers during that summer.

During the first season with Glasgow-based club, Arveladze scored 17 goals overall, including 11 in Scottish Premier League. He only managed to take part in 30 games, after being injured in February in the quarterfinal of the Scottish Cup against Forfar Athletic, an injury which meant he missed the 2002 Scottish League Cup Final. However, he scored six goals for his club, which managed to win the title. Arveladze played in the final, replacing Claudio Caniggia. This was his first title with the Scottish club.

Arveladze joined Rangers from Ajax for £3m in 2001. He agreed a four-year deal with the club. It was obvious that the Georgian would face a fierce competitions for the starting place in the Rangers' strikeforce from the players like Tore Andre Flo, Claudio Caniggia, Michael Mols, Kenny Miller, Billy Dodds, Ronald de Boer and Russell Latapy.

In summer 1998, Ajax signed Arveladze's close friend Giorgi Kinkladze from Manchester City for £5 million. They had been friends since their childhood and that looked like a dream move for both. However, Kinkladze's spell at Ajax proved unsuccessful.

Shota Arveladze was a regular in the Georgian national team and is its all-time leading scorer with 26 goals in his 61 games. With Georgia he won in 1998 the Malta International Football Tournament.

In summer 1997, Arveladze signed for Ajax Amsterdam. Later, he declared that he was so nervous during his first training session, that he even forgot to take football boots with him. He became a close friend to Ronald de Boer during his spell in Amsterdam. His first game at Amsterdam Arena was a special day for the Georgian player. On 15 August 1997, Ajax Amsterdam faced Brazilian side Grêmio in a friendly game. Arveladze scored a goal, while his wife Tamuna gave birth to their first child, Giorgi hours before the game.

Arveladze made a debut for Ajax against Vitesse Arnhem, where he replaced Gerald Sibon and scored the fourth goal for the club. During his first season, he scored three hat-tricks in Eredivisie and total 25 goals in 31 appearances. The manager of the Amsterdam-based club Morten Olsen was very pleased with the performance of the young striker. Arveladze was a key figure for the club during 1997–98 UEFA Cup as well. He scored 7 goals in 8 games for the club, including hat-trick against NK Maribor. Ajax were eliminated in quarter-finals, against Spartak Moscow. Arveladze scored the club's single goal in a tie. During his first season, he faced twice NAC Breda, where his twin brother Archil played. This remains as one of the most memorable facts in Shota's career.

Arveladze played at Dinamo Tbilisi, Trabzonspor, and Ajax, and finished at least one season as the top goal scorer at all three. In 1993, he scored an effective first Euro Tournament goal in the history of independent Georgian Football in the match against Linfield, Northern Ireland. When he led Trabzonspor in goals in 1995–96, he also led the Süper Lig, making him the second non-Turk to date to lead that league in goals after Tarik Hodžić 1983–84. He is recorded as "most loved foreign player" for Trabzonspor supporters.

Shota Arveladze (Georgian: შოთა არველაძე ; born 22 February 1973) is a Georgian former professional footballer and current manager of Pakhtakor Tashkent.

His 27 goals scored in the UEFA Cup competition ranks him 5th in the tournament's history. He has the best strike record of independent Georgian Football. He was nominated as the best player of Georgia as well as the best player by the Georgian Professional Football league survey.