Russian star swaps Italian clubs

Russian international midfielder Alexey Miranchuk, who is one of his country's biggest current footballing exports, has moved from Italian club Atalanta to Serie A rivals Torino in a loan deal which could be made permanent. 

Turin-based Torino confirmed the deal for the 26-year-old on Thursday, saying they would have the option to buy the attacking midfield talent after his initial loan for the 2022/23 season.

Miranchuk had moved to Atalanta from Lokomotiv Moscow in the summer of 2020 for a fee reported at around €15 million ($15.5 million), but failed to command a regular starting place at the Bergamo outfit managed by the charismatic Gian Piero Gasperini. 

The Russian star, who has made 41 appearances for his country, now heads west across Italy to join up with Ivan Juric's Torino team, who finished 10th in the Serie A standings last season.  

"I really like Juric's football, it's intense and attacking and this will help me to settle in right away. I trained well, I can't wait to get started," Miranchuk said in a welcoming message for Torino fans.

Miranchuk will be hoping to get more game time at his new team after featuring 25 times across all competitions for Atalanta last season, scoring twice and laying on five assists. 

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He will be joined at Torino by another name who formerly featured in the Russian Premier League, after it was confirmed that Croatia's Nikola Vlasic would also be arriving on loan - in his case from English Premier League team West Ham. 

Vlasic, 24, has largely disappointed since moving to the London club from CSKA Moscow last summer. 

Miranchuk is one of Russia's best-known current footballers who plys his trade abroad. Elsewhere, fellow international midfielder Aleksandr Golovin of French Ligue 1 team Monaco is also a rare example of Russian talent playing in one of Europe's top five leagues.