Translation of http://www.ajaxf-side.nl/nieuws/2005/1012watdoettienauw_kinkladze.htm
After Shota Arveladze, another Georgian player arrived at the beginning of the 1998-1999 season at the gates of the Amsterdam Arena: Giorgi Kinkladze. The two Georgian friends knew each other from the youth program of their first club Dynamo Tblisi, where they also played in the first team together.
After his first few years with Tblisi, Kinkladze was sent on loan for a year to the German FC Saarücken in 1993. When he arrived back at Ajax, Arveladze had since left to Trabzonspor. He again played two years for Tblisi and left in 1995 when he signed a conrtact with Manchester City. While at City, Kinkladze got nicknamed "King" and "Gio" and the "Georgian Maestro" was held in very high regard by the English supporters. However, he could not prevent the club from being demoted. Kinkladze left the club for a record-transfer fee of 15 million Euro to try his luck in Amsterdam.
Kinkladze's reputation preceded him: since his arrival in England in 1995 Kinkladze had made a name for himself amongst other things by scoring a number of fantastic goals. He was chosen as Footballer of the year and also in the Georgian national squad he stood out. Kinkladze was a real left footed midfielder who started as a left winger but preferred playing as a real number 10. The attacking midfielder was at the top of the list of Ajax coach Morten Olsen, who knew the player from his time at FC Koln (Kinkladze played for FC Saarbrücken at the time). Olsen said: "He is a special footballer with extra qualities, is creative and can make an individual action. He is a typical Ajax player".
However, the Georgian never played a lot of games with Ajax: only twelve matches. He was not able to compete for the number 10 position with Jari Litmanen, and even Richard Knopper was preferred over Kinkladze. He had constant problems with injuries which meant that he never really managed to establish himself in the starting line-up. His position with Ajax looked like it was going nowhere, so he went back to England in November 1999, on loan to Derby County until the end of the season. In the summer of 2000 Ajax and Derby County agreed on the definite transfer of the player, and the 15 million man left for next to nothing through the back door of the ArenA.
At Derby the visibly heavier Kinkladze somewhat revived himself. In his second and last season at Derby (2001-2002) he was even named "Player of the year" by the supporters.
Some relevant exerpts from http://www.nieuwsbank.nl/inp/2000/04/0419G092.htm
At Ajax Kinkladze has never managed to live up to the high expectations. Morten Olsen brought the player at the beginning of the 1998-99 season as a left-winger, a position of which the player later said he did not feel comfortable playing. The Georgian also had problems adapting to the Ajax-style, and also in his later role as supporting striker he did not succeed.
At the beginning of this season Kinkladze was told that Ajax would not be requiring his services any longer. New Ajax coach Jan Wouters did not have confidence in the player and placed him along with four others outside the squad. In the next three months he trained with with the second team.
Some relevant exerpts from http://krant.telegraaf.nl/krant/archief/19991104/teksten/spo.voetbal.kinkladze.html
"The Netherlands and Ajax are not good for your health." is what Georgi Kinkladze said as he was presented by Derby County. "It has nothing to do with my alleged over weightedness, but with the blackest days of my football carreer with Ajax." The Georgian said in the Daily Mail (note: probably a good idea to find this article) that he doesn't have anything against Holland but that "Playing football with my friends on holiday gave me more pleasure than playing with Ajax."
Kinkladze did not feel that he was responsible for his failure at Ajax. "I was never given a real chance by Morten Olsen and Jan Wouters. Someone you buy for 15 million, you have to play", Kinkladze, who only played 12 games, said. "If I had known that Jari Litmanen would be staying, I would actually never had chosen for Ajax in the first place".
Kinkladze has not actually got a work permit for England and is not normally qualified to get one. "Even so I will not return to Ajax, even though they treated me well there outside of sporting matters". Kinladze can be transferred by Derby County for 6.5 million. "I am totally fit after only having trained for a year. I do miss match rhythm, and I think I'll need two to three months to return to the Georgi Kinkladze that everyone remembers from Man City