Selling for a fall: should Miranchuk leave Atalanta on loan in winter

For Alexey Miranchuk, the second season in Serie A turns out to be extremely disappointing. Of the eight matches in all tournaments, the Russian midfielder started only two in the starting lineup of Atalanta, and left the bench six more times. At the same time, his last speeches caused a wave of criticism both among Italian journalists and fans. He was recognized as the worst player in the team in the confrontation with Manchester United in the Champions League, and in the meeting with Udinese in the Italian championship, and was partially rehabilitated only in the game with Sampdoria. The midfielder came on as a substitute in the 78th minute and scored an assist. Given this, it is not surprising that more and more rumors are circulating about his possible departure from the Bergamascan camp.

At the end of last season, Miranchuk's fans, if they were not sure of his bright future in Atalanta, were at least optimistic. Even though in Serie A he started in only four out of 25 matches, but he was more than careful with the playing time provided to him. According to statistics, the Russian had 0.8 effective actions per 90 minutes, which was the fifth indicator in the team. Only Alejandro Gomez (0.81), Duvan Zapata (0.87), Ruslan Malinovsky (0.91) and Luis Muriel (1.69) fared better. At the same time, direct competitors were left behind - Josip Ilicic and Matteo Pessina.

This allowed us to hope that in the course of the championship-2021/22 Gian Piero Gasperini would give Miranchuk more chances, but in reality the situation has not changed much. The midfielder began his meetings with Torino and Bologna on the bench, and although he hit the start with Fiorentina and Salernitana, he was replaced already in the opening of the second half. This was followed by a long period, during which Alexei was completely forced to watch the performances of his colleagues from the sidelines. In total, he spent almost a month on the sidelines - from September 21 to October 20, and his return to the field can hardly be considered successful. In the matches with Manchester United and Udinese, he again did not score goals and assists, and after his appearance on the field, Atalanta conceded three unanswered goals. As a result - a defeat in the Champions League and a draw in the national championship.

Thus, at the end of October, Miranchuk's track record includes only 215 minutes played in all tournaments and two assists. At the same time, in terms of the number of effective actions per match, on average, he takes the sixth place in the team (0.49), and in terms of the amount of expected goals and assists (0.26) - only the ninth. However, the situation is aggravated by the fact that in terms of work without the ball, he still looks weaker than his partners. And this is not counting the fact that he himself added to the activity. For example, in the last competitive year, he performed an average of 15.7 pressing actions per match, and this number has increased to 21.0. True, the number of successful ones remained the same (6.00).

All this says two things. Firstly, Miranchuk still has problems adapting to the Gasperini system and does not fully meet the requirements of the Italian specialist. Secondly, in conditions of a lack of playing time, he cannot fully express himself, which can hardly be called something unexpected. Alexey has never been a footballer who can replace and instantly strengthen the team and bring results. In the same Lokomotiv, he needed not only to get enough playing time, but also to be the main option in the attack. He does not have to wait for something like this in Atalanta, at least in the near future. And in many respects the reason for this is the sharply increased level of competition.

We can say that to some extent Miranchuk became a hostage of the situation. After all, he came to a team that was in a slightly different state than it is now. Yes, at that time Alejandro Gomez was still listed in it, but it was not long before the conflict with the head coach. At the same time, the future of one of Alexei's main competitors, Josip Ilicic, was in question, Roman Malinovsky had not yet reached his peak form, Matteo Pessina had not added, Sam Lammers had not been acquired. In short, there were much more prospects.

And although Gomez left Atalanta in January, the place in the roster was not vacated. Ilicic not only did not leave, but continued to demonstrate his enormous talent, Malinovsky became one of the most productive midfielders in Serie A, and the progress of the same Pessina could certainly have become even more impressive if not for a serious injury. In any case, Miranchuk has at least two serious competitors, which not only surpass him in level at a particular point in time, but are also better adapted to the conditions of a specialist. And in such realities, it is extremely difficult to fight for getting into the start.

In light of this, the logical decision would be to leave Atalanta.

Of course, a Russian should not pay attention to some Italian journalists urging him to return to the RPL.

But it is necessary to find a team in which he will receive permanent playing practice.

And if Miranchuk is interested in continuing his career in the Apennines, he might need to consider options with a loan to one of the clubs in Italy.

And judging by the words of his agent Vadim Shpinev, similar work is already underway.

He noted that he is in close contact with the leadership of Atalanta and plans to discuss the future of Miranchuk at the end of November.

At the same time, he stressed that they still believe in the domestic football player and do not plan to sell.

“I think by winter we will discuss renting to another Italian club. There is interest in Miranchuk from solid teams of Serie A. There are contacts, there is a discussion. Everyone knows his qualities. His reputation in Italy is good. No panic, no frustration. Lyosha has no doubts about the correctness of his transfer to Atalanta, - the agent confirmed to the Championship.

Now renting to another team of the Italian championship is seen as an ideal option for Miranchuk, if he is serious about continuing his performances in Europe. In a less status and structured team, he will surely get the opportunity to get in shape, demonstrate his attacking skills and regain confidence. The problem is that all of this may not help him much in terms of strengthening the core of Atalanta. After all, the transition to another club will not allow him to better adapt to the requirements of Gasperini or win the competition from Malinovsky and Ilicic.

Atalanta is the type of team where it is extremely difficult to win a place in the roster if you are not inside it. Yes, Miranchuk can show high productivity in the conditional "Udinese" or "Bologna", but upon his return he will have to re-learn to exist in a complex gaming system. And as practice shows, with the help of renting bergamasks, they often do not provide footballers with practice, but probe the ground for a future transfer.

In recent years, a huge number of players have passed through the club's system, and not all of them fit the mentor's vision. Subsequently, they were sent on lease, but only a few units returned back. One of the examples can be called the same Pessina, who managed to go first to La Spezia, and then to Verona, and then came to the courtyard in Bergamo. At the same time, for the majority, the temporary "link" turned into a full-fledged move to a new place. Suffice it to recall Etrita Berisha and Marco D'Alessandro, Andreas Cornelius, Nicholas Haas and others.

Yes, there were also players who showed themselves so vividly in Atalanta that a stronger and more prosperous club decided to rent them for a season in order to subsequently make a full transition. Among them are Frank Kessier (Milan), Gianluca Mancini, Roger Ibanez and Brian Cristante (all - Roma), Roberto Gagliardini (Inter). But Miranchuk still can hardly be attributed to this category. Despite Shpinev's words about a "good reputation", in Italy the midfielder has not yet managed to achieve serious success and it is too early to go for a promotion.

Perhaps this is partly due to the fact that at the moment there is very little information in the media about clubs interested in inviting Miranchuk. Some time ago, one of the contenders for it was called "Sassuolo", but later in the club itself came out with a refutation. In August, it was said that Alexey could join Milan, but everything remained at the level of rumors. Perhaps closer to winter, the excitement around the Russian will increase, but potential tenants may well be scared off by his high salary. According to Capology, the midfielder earns € 2.78 million a year. And part of it will have to be paid to new employers.

In any case, at the moment, the rental option seems to be the only correct one for Miranchuk. However, the choice of the team should be approached as carefully as possible. It is probably worth paying attention to the less status teams from the middle or bottom of the table. Another six months on the bench can deal a serious blow to psychology and discourage the desire to build a career in Europe, and a return to the RPL can hardly be called an ideal development of events. After all, Alexey had already shown earlier that he had outgrown the level of the Russian championship.

“I want to emphasize that we are not considering the option of returning to Russia.

Everything is relative.

Lesha is comfortable and interesting in Italy.

From a professional point of view, he is also satisfied with everything.

Now Alexei simply cannot fully meet Gasperini's expectations.

The coach wants to see a tough character, a more active defensive play, a better conduct of single combats.

This is the main problem.

Miranchuk is a creative player.

If he combined the ability to competently conduct martial arts with the qualities that he already has, he would be a different footballer who would be rated ten times higher.

It would be a different level.

You can count such players on one hand in Europe, ”Shpinev said.