Alexei Miranchuk has officially become an Atlanta United player. Why this transfer should only be viewed in a positive light — in the Sport article.
Finally, Lesha will be a leaderMany perceive the Italian stage of Miranchuk's career as crumpled. On the one hand, Alexei never became the favorite of the wayward Signor Gasperini, did not receive enough playing time and was more often a player in the nearest reserve.
On the other hand, he proved that he could bite into his chances, giving beautiful performances and consistently gaining scoring points when they finally began to trust him. The pinnacle of this period should be considered the Europa League trophy won last season, in which Miranchuk was far from the last figure. It turns out that Alexey is leaving Atalanta at a rather good time, and to a club where they will count on him as a real leader.
«Atlanta» is not just paying 12 million euros for a creative midfielder who can find an unconventional move at the right moment and takes full responsibility for the course of attacks. Remember how Miranchuk was spectacular when Yuri Semin and Marko Nikolic were fully counting on him. Provided that the level of resistance in the North American league is less than in Serie A, we can count on a full-fledged renaissance of the Russian's career. And if he shows himself to the fullest, then nothing will stop him from returning to European football.MLS is a competitive league, on par with the RPL. Football is not liked in the USA — this is an outdated narrative. MLS is developing vigorously, and every season more and more interesting faces and real stars appear there. The growth that the league received with the arrival of David Beckham does not stop and only increases with the advent of Lionel Messi. Needless to say, the confrontation with a living legend will not only not stall Miranchuk’s development, but will also give him even more motivation?
«Atlanta» is an ambitious club, investments in which are estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars, the team plays in a state-of-the-art arena and has a large fan base. Full stands at every home match and a fight for the title — this is what awaits Miranchuk, and, of course, they hope that the arrival of the Russian midfielder will increase the quotes and chances of «Atlanta» for a qualitative improvement in results. To become the face of one of the most promising clubs in MLS, and even on the eve of the 2026 World Cup, in my opinion, is a great challenge for Lesha.
Football is truly beyond politicsDuring the sanctions against Russian football, many stereotypes have already been destroyed. Russian Premier League (RPL) clubs have established operations in various markets, and deals with European clubs no longer seem like something out of science fiction. MLS has long been an impregnable bastion: given that there weren't many Russians playing there anyway, transfers of our footballers were, as it were, an unspoken taboo.
The closest to leaving for America was Fyodor Smolov, who, as a player for Moscow's Dynamo, negotiated with a number of clubs. After their failure, he admitted that overseas, it seems, they refused to cooperate with Russians: «Do you still want to go to MLS? Honestly, I don't think about it anymore. At one time, I thought about combining the last years of my career with studying there. Now it's impossible. Russians only play in the NHL there, they make hockey better. And they refused to cooperate with Russian football players and specialists there.»
Now this ban is no longer relevant. Miranchuk's transfer shows that even the US is ready to deal with Russian football. The time to destroy bridges seems to be over. Now they will rebuild them anew, and football may become the first swallow in this delicate and complex matter.