Mere days after Thiago Almada’s record-breaking transfer to Botafogo, we now have a rumor for his replacement. And boy is this exciting.
According to Sky Sports transfer reporter Gianluca Di Marzio, Atlanta United is in contact with Serie A side Atalanta for the purchase of Russian midfielder Aleksey Miranchuk.
Di Marzio also reports that other MLS clubs such as D.C. United have shown interest in Miranchuk, but the Five Stripes remain the most interested party having reportedly offered $11 million for him.
Miranchuk, 28, plays primarily as an attacking midfielder, but can also play as a center forward or right winger. He recorded four goals and 12 assists in 42 appearances across all competitions last season. Since arriving in Serie A in 2020, he has averaged a goal contribution every 150 minutes playing for Atalanta and Torino.
For his country, Miranchuk has seven goals and seven assists in 42 caps for the Russian senior team. He played 60 minutes when Russia hosted the FIFA World Cup in 2018 and 173 minutes during the 2020 Euros.
The eye test reveals a player with a divine left foot that finds the top corner of the goal with ease. He’s not the fastest player, but he makes up for that with his technical abilities to create space and take a shot. He also doesn’t seem like a player that takes too long with the ball. He is very practical in possession and makes up his mind quickly between having a go or finding an open teammate.
With his price tag, Miranchuk would surely be a designated player, which isn’t a problem for Atlanta seeing as it has two vacant DP slots.
What are your thoughts on this potential signing? Would you like the see Miranchuk donning the Five Stripes of Atlanta United? Let us know in the comments below.
[…] it was reported that the Five Stripes had sent a bid of around $11 million for the Russian midfielder. A couple days later, Romano reported that Atlanta United Technical Director Carlos Bocanegra was […]
https://www.ea.com/games/ea-sports-fc/ratings/player-ratings/alexey-miranchuk/214092
Why not adopt more of a Brighton style recruitment/business approach?
Go after players like Oscar Zambrano, Victor Hugo, etc.
Mix in our Academy guys
Tata, de Boer, Heinze, Pineda, Valentino… I don’t care how much money we have for new signings, if we can’t get a solid coach, we’ll be what we’ve been since Tata left (hoping individual talent somehow creates a comprehensive team). I’m so sick of the stupidity. Show us something different, Garth!
100%
Frank de Boer was as successful as Tata.
I guess you may be right and hindsight is 20/20. I had high hopes for him but maybe the FO should’ve been firmer and stick with him? Maybe DeBoar also wanted to leave to coach the “Orange” could’ve been a combination of both factors. The Covid tournament was a joke anyway.
FdB drew more, won less, lost less. He also played boring possession + defense matches which bored the fans. So he was run off for not scoring 7 a game.
His players mutinied midway through 2019. The players hated the tactics. If the FO listened to the fans, Pineda wouldnt have lasted nearly so long.
It’s just because every other big money DP needs to have controversy associated with them:
Almiron,Martinez
Barco – drama with Vazquez’s gf
Pity, Araujo
Almada – harassment case POI
Giakoumakis
Miranchuk – Russia
I’m not including the DPs that can be bought down to TAM (Villalba, Moreno, etc) purely because they don’t fit in my conspiracy.
Because I know someone’s not going to get it, I am being sarcastic.
Alright guys. AUFC season ticket holder who lived in Moscow for 9 years and went to tons of Lokomotiv Moscow games. Dude is smooth. For a tall player he glides around the field. Not fast but smooth. He’s not almada though and he won’t fix our problems of everybody standing still while Almada breaks lines on the dribble. He’s a good player but he’s not going to set the league on fire. He really fits a good team that has a system of movement and tactics but I don’t feel like we’re a team like that right now. I like him a lot but he won’t fix us even to the level that Almada made us tick.
Would you say that he’s similar to Seattle’s Albert Rusnak?
His chance creating metrics are elite and he’s bigger than a lot of CAMs, which I think is very beneficial in this league.
I don’t know anything at all about the guy I didn’t just read here, but I like the fact that he currently plays (apparently solidly well) in a top league and would not be on the MLS Retirement Tour at 28. I also like the fact that he gets cap and minutes for his national team.
The goals and assists say he’s not likely to produce at an Almada level but maybe those go up at the MLS level. Is he potentially an MLS XI guy or at least an All Star? I don’t know.
Given the success to date of Slisz and Gregerson, I trust the analysts to find quality in Europe. The hit rate seems to be higher than the South American pipeline of yesteryear. Maybe lower ceiling, but so far the floor has been higher. Granted, this may be due to not acquiring seven of the same players.
Likely to be more consistent and productive than Almada
Hard to find one that produces 10-12 goals a season. He was on pace to give us at least 10 this year
I wonder if it won’t be difficult for him to get a visa since he is a Russian national
No, but….
SHOULD we be trying to sign Russians? Really, out of all the other countries and leagues in Europe, we somehow can’t find a guy who isn’t a Russian?
The NHL not only has no problem with signing Russians, teams are drafting them like there is no tomorrow and a significant number of NHL “fans” are honest to God Putin sympathizers. No Russian player has been denied a US visa. So no, it won’t be a big problem for him to get a visa, but it might take Thaire time to get it done rather than Muyumba time.
For the record, I actually have been to Ukraine, although it’s been a while, but I know real people who live there and are impacted in the war. Giving money to Russian citizens isn’t helpful, unless somebody wants to show me where this guy hasn’t been back to Russia in years and has publicly criticized Putin. In that case, all good.
I don’t think politics should have anything to do with who we sign. We just need him to score goals
I am not against signing Russian players, but I know if he ends up coming to MLS. You know there will be multiple times where reporters are going to ask do you support the war in Ukraine and if he supports Putin’s views. I just would not want to have to deal with all that.
Saw an article on ESPN. Apparently most if not all Russian players in the NHL had decided to not talk to the media after the invasion happened, or at least only speak to them on condition the war does not come up as a topic. That’s probably the right way to go.
https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/34846112/how-war-ukraine-impacting-russian-players-nhl-beyond
I don’t know why anyone is particularly interested in the geopolitical opinions of professional athletes anyway. I’m sure most of them just want to play their sport.
I think the real question is should we continue to send billions to Ukraine so they can keep sending a generation of young men and women to be slaughtered, or should we be working to stop the killing on both sides?
Signing a Russian player will have no effect on funding the Russian war effort, just like economic sanctions have not crippled it either.
Yes. Hth.
That is indeed a real question, though not an overly sophisticated one and certainly not “the” real question. I’m sure plenty of folks would be eager to educate you but maybe best to leave politics out of the thread.
Agree on best to leave politics off the thread. Got a little triggered by Zontar’s stance that we should just ban all Russian players as if they have anything whatsoever to do with the war.
I won’t back off my stance that the killing needs to stop and we are facilitating the killing. I have friends from Ukraine too and they are losing an entire generation of their people. That is unequivocably true.
I knew somebody would bring politics into the beautiful game. The question to me is: can he play and help us?
I *normally* agree your takes on things, but this one isn’t great
I, myself, am Ukrainian (first generation American, but I still get looks because of my last name (we Americans just assume)) and I have no problem signing a Russian player even while I have family holding out in Ukraine. That mentality is what causes division amongst the masses.
This is the equivalent of shaming us for signing Josef. Venezuela is a great place to launder Russian oil money and cause chaos/be a playground for the crooked people out there.
The player’s nationality shouldn’t determine his eligibility to be signed.
Yes Please!