Former Manchester City striker Mikheil Kavelashvili has become the President of Georgia as the ruling party consolidates its grip on power in the country, writes Manchester Evening News.

“The 53 year-old, a former Georgian MP who played briefly for City in the mid-to-late 1990s, easily won the vote given the Georgian Dream party’s control of a 300-seat electoral college that replaced direct presidential elections in 2017.

He made his debut for the Blues in the 1996 derby against Manchester United, but only made a handful of appearances with his last City outing coming in 1997.

Georgian Dream retained control of parliament in the South Caucasus nation in an election on October 26”.