Liberation or collapse of Russia in Italy? Miranchuk moves to Turin to a crazy manager

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Turin has officially announced the transfer of Russian midfielder Alexei Miranchuk from another Italian team, Atalanta.

The deal is framed as a €12 million loan with an option to buy, while the player himself will earn €1.5 million per season as part of the Bulls.

The transfer of 26-year-old Miranchuk to Turin was discussed over the summer. At one point, the deal already seemed inevitable, but was blocked by Atalanta head coach Gian Piero Gasperini, who was waiting for the signings to come in.

True, insiders immediately reported that it was not about canceling the deal, but simply suspending negotiations, which Atalanta’s sports director also stated in plain text.

As a result, the pause did not last long – about a week. And already on August 10, information appeared that the clubs practically agreed, and the player himself came to Turin to undergo an in-depth medical examination. It was supposed to be done on August 11.

“Yes, Miranchuk is moving to Turin today,” the player’s manager, Valerio Giuffrida, told RB Sport.

No medical contraindications for the transition were identified, so Torino immediately announced the agreement.

It is interesting that, according to Match TV, in addition to the salary of 1.5 million euros, the player’s deal with the “pomegranate” includes bonuses for a certain number of effective actions, although the order of the numbers is not disclosed here.

Recall that Miranchuk spent two seasons at Atalanta, but was never a major player in Gian Piero Gasperini’s plans. The Italian specialist basically released the Russian midfielder as a substitute, but never seriously trusted him.

Russia played in 25 Serie A games in the 2020/21 season, scoring four goals and providing two assists. He only played in 19 league games last season, scoring two goals and providing five assists. At the same time, the average playing time of a football player per game increased from 27 minutes to 40 minutes.

However, Miranchuk was not happy with this situation and wanted to move from Atalanta to another European club to get more playing practice. Turin seems like an ideal option at first glance.

The Bulls finished just 17th in Serie A last season, just above the relegation zone, but finished tenth in the last championship after Croatia’s Ivan Juric took over as head coach. They also lost a large number of players (including notable ones), including main star Andrea Belotti, who left as a free agent.

Torino’s defensive foot Bremer has moved to Juventus, the loan of Italian midfielder Rolando Mandragora, who was nominated for the Italy national team, is now gone, but there is someone to play for Torino. Juric has very strong, fast and interesting fullback Wilfried Singo and Mergim Vojvoda at his disposal, a super promising Samuele Ricci in the middle of the pitch, Nemanja Radonjic on loan on offense and now also Miranchuk. Joining the team (also on loan with a buyout) is RPL Nikola Vlasic, whom Miranchuk knows well.

As for the coach himself, he is … Gasperini’s student. Yes, Juric played in Genoa under the Italian coach and has embraced a lot in the way he works. Yurich already calls his former mentor Miranchuk his teacher, but still plays a different football.

On the one hand, Torino is the most prestigious team in Serie A and literally does not let their opponents breathe. On the other hand, creative midfielders, including Miranchuk, who have the opportunity to work on a little less defense here as the pressure moves start closer to the middle of the field.

But Alexei should definitely not relax, because Yurich’s education is a real hell. They are shorter in time than most other trainers, but significantly more intense. The expert juices all the players in the class and demands that they work with maximum calculation.

“Most do very long workouts with serious breaks between workouts. Yurich’s lessons are half as long but three times faster. Competition is the same as in official matches, you fight for every ball. He keeps the team in good shape. Every player must prove that he is ready to give 100% at any time. This approach is not for everyone, ”said one of the former wards of Croats in Genoa.

Miranchuk will not be easy, but at the same time, Torino trusts him very seriously, and therefore a new stage in his career can give the Russian midfielder an impetus both in terms of gaining authority and improving his skills. You just have to seize the opportunities, which will certainly be more than Gasperini gave the Russians in Atalanta.

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