Lado Akhalaia (footballer, born 2002)

Lado Akhalaia (born 1 July 2002) is a Moldovan footballer who plays as a striker for Italian Serie A club Torino.

Career
Having started out playing for Dacia Buiucani in Moldova, Lado Akhalaia soon attracted the attention of several European clubs, including Sporting Portugal, where he spent several months on trial. However, his stay was cut short by the crisis of 2018, when the club's management was eventually dismissed after endangering the physical integrity of its players.

As a youth player, Akhalaia joined the youth academy of Moldovan second tier side Dacia Buiucani. In 2019, he joined the youth academy of Inter in the Italian Serie A after trialling for the youth academies of Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk and Sporting in Portugal.

In 2021, he signed for Italian Serie A team Torino. In 2022, Akhalaia was sent on loan to Virton in the Belgian second tier. On 14 January 2023, he moved on a new loan to Swift Hesperange in Luxembourg.

Personal life
He is the son of Georgia international Vladimir Akhalaia and the grandson of Moldova international and manager Alexandru Spiridon.