Luka Gagnidze

Luka Gagnidze (ლუკა გაგნიძე; born 28 February 2003) is a Georgian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Russian club Dynamo Moscow and the Georgia national team.

Club career
Born in Kutaisi, Gagnidze took first steps in football at Torpedo academy. He was ten years old when he moved to Dinamo Tbilisi academy. At age 16 Gagnidze was widely recognized as a talented player. In 2019 some media outlets named him among ten Georgian sportsmen expected to shine in the upcoming years. Being at that time a key U17 team member, he received the Alexandre Chivadze Golden medal, annually given by the Football Federation to distinguished young players. He regularly featured in Dinamo Tbilisi under Georgi Nemsadze. On 5 July 2021, Gagnidze signed a five-year contract with Russian Premier League club Dynamo Moscow On 21 July 2021, he was loaned to another RPL club Ural Yekaterinburg for the 2021–22 season.

He made his Russian Premier League debut for Ural on 1 August 2021 in a game against Nizhny Novgorod. He substituted Vyacheslav Podberyozkin in the 58th minute.

On 10 March 2022, Gagnidze's contract with Ural was suspended until 30 June 2022 (which is the end of his loan term) according to special FIFA regulations related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

On 25 March 2022, he signed a short-term deal with Polish Ekstraklasa side Raków Częstochowa.

International career
Gagnidze made his debut for the national team in a friendly 6–1 win over Mongolia on 25 March 2023. In June 2023, he was called up to the U21 squad taking part in the European Championship.