There has been a lot of speculation (albeit a lot of it suspect) that Atalanta are looking to offload last year’s highest profile signing, Aleksey Miranchuk. For those that have been paying attention, Miranchuk has not quite lived up to the billing, failing to take a positive step forward after departing his Russian homeland for the higher competition in Italy. The likes of Torino and Sassuolo have been linked to Miranchuk, but on Wednesday Atalanta Director Giovanni Sartori has taken a stand and denied any rumors of cashing in early on Miranchuk.
Hearing Miranchuk’s name on the transfer rumor mill does not come as a shock to most Atalantini. Miranchuk is firmly fifth in the pecking order for attacking midfield options – and he has seen a grand total of 185 minutes in Serie A matches this year – good for 17% of Atalanta’s match minutes after 12 games. The result have been equally uninspiring. With zero goals and two assists to his name, one probably an accident against Villarreal and the other seemingly a gift after Ilicic’s solo efforts on his wonder goal, he has not been good value for his minutes. But is it too early to give up on the still only 26 year old Russian? Its a tough question to answer, so difficult that a live back and forth conversation is needed to even draw a conclusion. Let’s see what we can muster up….
1st Argument in Favor to Keep Miranchuk
While Miranchuk has been with Atalanta for one and a quarter seasons, his match time does not equate to what one would expect from Atalanta’s most expensive transfers to date. Across all three competitions Atalanta participates in, Miranchuk has only played 1029 minutes, equating to 11.5 total games. On top of that, his minutes have come in very uneven spurts with very few opportunities to play more than 30 minutes (let alone a full match) to get into the flow of the game.
Even with his uneven playing time doing him minimal favors – he has still managed to score seven goals and contribute four assists – almost good enough for one goal contribution per game. Analyzing his match contributions against his match time suggests that there may be something there, and a more clear route to playing time would only help him elevate his play.
The Objection
His reasonable performance in limited playing time is all well and good – but why does he deserve to start over the players in front of him? Gian Piero Gasperini will not change strategy from his two attacking midfielder formation. And right now Ruslan Malinovskyi, Matteo Pessina, Mario Pasalic, and Josip Ilicic are all clearly ahead of Miranchuk on the depth chart and have been just or even more effective. Without injuries there is no visible path to Miranchuk getting meaningful minutes (let alone starts) that his growth will remain stunted purely because of the quality ahead of him depth wise.
The Verdict – In favor of the objection
2nd Argument in Favor to Keep Miranchuk
In spurts Miranchuk has demonstrated his ability to take over a game. Two matches specifically stand out from last year – Inter and Torino. Inter was his Atalanta Serie A debut, and he was the best offensive player on the pitch – finishing off his performance by putting away the game tying goal. Against Torino in Atalanta’s disastrous 3-3 draw, Miranchuk again was Atalanta’s best performer in the 2nd half – clanking the post and setting up teammates for several other good opportunities. The talent is there, Atalanta just has to put him in the right situations to use it.
The Objection
As good as he can be, he’s had even more matches in which he has been ineffective and blends in with the scenery while on the pitch. The number of matches that he is pedestrian outweighs his strong performances. Is it worth putting up with multiple uninspiring performances just to witness an occasional strong match?
The Verdict – In favor of the objection
3rd Argument in Favor to Keep Miranchuk
Miranchuk’s transfer fee was quite a large sum for Atalanta around 16M euros. However, his contract does not expire until June 2025, so Atalanta still has four more years to see his contract fully amortized. Even if Atalanta decided to sell him June 2023 – La Dea could still sell him for around 10M euros and sitll come out ahead. His salary is similarly not an enormous hindrance (around 1.5M euros net), making him a valuable depth piece in case a catastrophic injury crisis arises.
The Objection
Given his playing time, his value will only go down from here. Atalanta will be hard pressed to find a taker in the 8M to 10M range, unless the transaction is completed this winter or next summer. Otherwise, he will continue to sit on Atalanta’s bench or go out on loan spells just so Atalanta doesn’t realize a loss on its investment from 2020.
The Verdict – In favor of the argument
4th Argument in Favor to Keep Miranchuk
Acclimating to a brand new country, after living his whole life in Russia (alongside his twin brother) is an enormous cultural shift for anyone, let alone a young man. Trying to get up to speed with life at Atalanta and in Italy, while not knowing Italian, must be a grueling personal process. Simultaneously he has to perform at an elite athletic level. Miranchuk has Ruslan Malinovskyi to help him acclimate, and I imagine he speaks passable English to communicate with most other teammates – but it still is not the same of being able to effectively communicate in the native tongue of the country you’re living in. Acclimation takes time, and he should be given the benefit of the doubt as we take a look at the more subtle aspects of professional life.
The Objection
If acclimation is so difficult (can we even confirm that he is struggling to acclimate?), wouldn’t it be easier to sell him to a club with a shallower curve to acclimation? With Atalanta’s diverse roster, this goes against Atalanta’s current vision, but Russian players are even more of a wildcard given the minimal top-level Russians playing outside their homeland.
The Verdict- In favor of the argument
The Overall Verdict
This is tough. The results oriented side of me is impatient and wants to see immediate results – but on the other hand I try to put myself in his shoes and try to understand how incredibly difficult it must be to start a new life in Bergamo. Ultimately I think Atalanta would be wise to look for a new landing spot for Miranchuk – as much as it pains me to say it.
I was a huge supporter of his last year, and want to see him succeed, but I don’t know how he’s going to do that in the current Atalanta set up. Even if his price is low, Atalanta could find cheaper options to be the 5th choice attacking midfielder, and a club like Sassuolo, Genoa, or Torino could really bring out the best in him, with a much clearer path to consistent match minutes.
Hopefully everything unfolds where it works out for all parties involved, but remember this exercise may all be in vain! Remember Sartori’s comments, and perhaps the best of Miranchuk is still to come – one can hope. Let’s keep tabs on the situation, and hope that Miranchuk can up his game making this decision much more difficult or even better a moot point!
