Of interest to Hammers fans starved of Premier League football this weekend was the UEFA Nations League match between Georgia and Czech Republic featuring Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal.
This one caught my eye because for so much of the transfer window after Euro 24 West Ham United were linked with Georgian forward Georges Mikautadze who was the top scorer in the summer competition.
I remember him well, having been unable to convince my autocorrect to accept his name in several reports during the early part of the transfer window when he was being linked to a move to London Stadium.
Former Hammers Striker target – on target again
Indeed, the Georgian was presented with his UEFA award for scoring before the match against Czech Republic today. By all accounts the game was pretty one sided, as the 4-1 scoreline in favour of Georgia suggests.
Disappointing for our Hammers pair who were on the losing side as their newly-relegated national side failed to compete against a resurgent Georgia.
Of course, like so many missed transfer targets that West Ham have spurned over the years, Georges Mikautadze continued his rich vein of scoring, netting the third against Czech Republic with what was, by all accounts, a ‘clinical volley’. Olympic Lyonaise took him on board for a steal at twenty million euros. Glad then, that Nic Fullkrug scored, so that feels better as a Hammers Fan that the ‘one we did sign’ competes with the’ one that got away!’