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By Mitchell Procter.
In around 7 months time Russia will be hosting the world biggest footballing competition and expectations will be monumentally high for the national team and fans will want them to put on a show and not to be there just to make up the numbers. Russia will be expecting big things from their players both old and young. From Igor Akinfeev to Aleksandr Golovin they will want to help their nation to not replicate their display at the Confederations cup this year. Another name expected to make the grade is 22-Year-Old, Aleksey Miranchuk who has been making a name for himself in Russia's top flight with Lokomotiv Moscow. The winner of the best Under 21 player in the Russian Premier League in 2014, Miranchuk has been touted as the next big thing in Russia after being 'backed' by Messi for his Adidas campaign. Since making his debut, aged 17, in early 2013 against Kuban Krasnodar as a starter, the young Russian has made 126 appearances for Lokomotiv Moscow, scoring 18 goals and assisting 22 which includes 1 goal in the Europa League against Portuguese side, Sporting Lisbon. Miranchuk is a two time Russian Cup winner and in both finals Aleksey Miranchuk found the back of the net. Miranchuk has started the season very well for Lokomotiv Moscow after signing a new contract with the top flight Russian side a few months ago. The 22-Year-Old has scored 6 goals and assisted 8 times in the first 20 games of the season. Standing at 5ft 11, Aleskey Miranchuk has been likened to Mesut Ozil due to their similarities in style of play. With good passing and vision Miranchuk is a player to watch out in the future. Internationally, The young Russian has been capped 12 times for his nation, scoring 3 goals and assisting 1 time since his debut in 2015, coming off the bench against Belarus and scoring 12 minutes into his senior debut. With Russian players seemingly always staying in Russia throughout their careers it would be a shame for someone so talented like Aleksey Miranchuk to stay in Russia just for a bigger pay check and it could be perceived as a waste of his talent. It would be great to see the 22-Year-Old move abroad after the upcoming World Cup if he has a good tournament which I believe is more than likely.