Arsenal's Interest in Georgian Starlet Andria Bartishvili
For the first time in years, Arsenal have a real reason to care about the early qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League – and it has nothing to do with their own route into the competition.
The Premier League champions have long since outgrown those nervy August play‑offs. Not since 2014, when an Alexis Sanchez strike edged out Besiktas 1-0 on aggregate, have the Gunners had to scrap for their place at Europe’s top table. The landscape has shifted since then: UEFA’s revamped format now hands England’s top five sides direct entry into the league phase.
Normally, what happens in July and early August is background noise in north London. Training camps, tours, transfer briefings – that’s the rhythm. Qualifiers feel distant. But this summer, one tie in particular cuts through the static.
Iberia 1999’s long road – and Arsenal’s interest
Hidden beneath the glare of the World Cup, Georgian club Iberia 1999 are preparing for a first qualifying round clash with Estonian side Flora, with the first leg set for Wednesday, July 8. On paper, it is the kind of fixture that barely flickers on the wider European radar.
Inside Arsenal’s recruitment department, it matters.
If Iberia 1999 get past Flora, they move into Group 2 of the second qualifying round as an unseeded side, where Serbian club Slovan Bratislava await. Survive that, and the Georgians flip status, entering the third qualifying round as a seeded team. Win again, and they reach the play‑off. Come through that final hurdle and they step into the Champions League proper.
It is a long, unforgiving path. But every step Iberia 1999 take will be watched closely from London Colney.
The reason is simple: Andria Bartishvili.
Bartishvili on the radar
football.london understands Arsenal are very keen on the 17-year-old Georgian, who is currently on loan at Iberia 1999 from Kolkheti Poti. An attacking midfielder with clear upside, he has drawn attention well beyond his homeland.
His contract expires at the end of the year. No extension is in place. That opens the door for clubs to strike a pre-contract agreement, tying him down now for a move once his current deal runs out.
Arsenal are not alone. Liverpool are watching. So are French side Paris FC. For a teenager still cutting his teeth in Champions League qualifying, the suitors are heavyweight enough.
Yet Bartishvili is not rushing. The indication is that he wants to see out Iberia 1999’s Champions League qualification campaign before deciding his next step. His European adventure – however long it lasts – will double as a live audition.
Arsenal’s Georgian question
Inside Arsenal’s scouting operation, there is a belief that Georgian talent is a market worth taking seriously. Andrea Berta’s new head of scouting, Maurizio Micheli, has form in that department, having previously identified Khvicha Kvaratskhelia before his rise to stardom.
Spotting the next one is the challenge. Arsenal know that. They have felt the sting of near-misses already, most recently with Jeremy Monga and Emmanuel Mbemba, deals that did not fall their way.
Bartishvili offers another shot at getting ahead of the curve, another chance to move decisively in a market where hesitation is punished. For once, the Gunners’ summer gaze will drift away from the Premier League, away from the glamour ties, and lock onto a Georgian side fighting through the mud of qualification.
If Iberia 1999 keep winning, the stakes rise for them in Europe. For Arsenal, the stakes rise in the transfer market.
