Levan Kenia


Levan Kenia is a Georgian footballer who currently plays for FC Saburtalo Tbilisi.

Club career

He joined Schalke 04 from Lokomotivi Tbilisi in January 2008, signing a contract with the club that ran until June 2012 Kenia made his debut for Schalke 04 against APOEL F.C. in a UEFA Cup match on 2 October 2008 coming on as a 65th-minute substitute for Gerald Asamoah. Formerly, Kenia trained for two weeks at the age of 14 with FC Barcelona.
On 11 April 2009, Kenia made his Bundesliga debut for Schalke in a match against Karlsruher SC.
On 14 August 2012, Kenia joined Ukrainian Premier League side FC Karpaty Lviv on a two-year contract. After spending one year in Ukraine, Kenia returned to Germany and signed a contract with Fortuna Düsseldorf for two years.
At Düsseldorf however he could never fulfill the expectations. Signed as the playmaker, he played only eleven games during the 2013–14 season. In the second half of the campaign he even earned just a single cap playing four minutes. On 1 July 2014, according to previous rumors, it was announced that his contract was dissolved.
In the summer of 2018, he joined a Luxembourgian club Dudelange.

International career

He made his debut for the national team on 8 September 2007 against Ukraine, replacing Alexander Iashvili. Georgia's former head coach Klaus Toppmöller said he had never before seen a player of his age with such accomplished technical abilities. Kenia, along with fellow teenagers Levan Mchedlidze and Giorgi Makaridze, played in their UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying campaign starring in a 2–0 victory over Scotland. Toppmöller praised Kenia, "Kenia was one of the best on the pitch."
He scored his first international goal on 27 May 2008 against Estonia.

Career statistics

International goals

No.DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition
127 May 2008A. Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia91–11–1Friendly
220 August 2008Liberty Stadium, Swansea, Wales111–12–1Friendly
36 September 2008Stadion am Bruchweg, Mainz, Germany121–21–22010 FIFA World Cup qualification
427 May 2016ASKÖ Stadion, Wels, Austria271–31–3Friendly

Personal life

Levan is also the nephew of former SC Freiburg midfielder Georgi Kiknadze.