Before the start of the 2022/23 season, the number of Russian football players in the European championships has decreased significantly. Not all of them left their clubs due to the tense political environment. Someone like Denis Cheryshev did not renew the contract, others, like Fedor Chalov, returned from loan in a foreign team. Some, like Alexander Kokorin, are more likely to come to Russia before the transfer window ends. But fans have someone to follow in Europe. And we are not just talking about Alexander Golovin and Alexei Miranchuk.

Midfielder “Monaco” remains one of the two main Russian players in foreign championships. The ex-soldier will start his fifth season in the French championship and this will be decisive for him in many ways.

The previous campaign for Golovin turned out to be crumpled. In 27 Ligue 1 games, the Russian scored three goals and provided four assists, sometimes falling from the bottom due to injuries. In the 2022/23 season, the 26-year-old will need to re-establish himself as the club’s leading midfielder and prove his claim to move into one of the giants of European football.

Things are not going so smoothly for Alexei Miranchuk either. For two seasons in Italy, midfielder Gianpiero Gasperini could not hold on as the main player in his team. Russia made 19 appearances in the previous season of Serie A, mostly as a substitute. He scored two goals and made four assists.

It’s unclear whether Miranchuk will prove his worth in Atalanta. According to Gasperini, the player may be ready to transfer. However, even in this case, the Russian probably will not leave the Italian championship. Among the candidates for the acquisition, the media named Roma and Bologna.

The goalkeeper of Leverkusen “Bayer” is another representative of Russia in the strongest European championships. He transferred from Zenit to Germany last season.

The 30-year-old goalkeeper replaces Finn Lukasz Hradecki. Last season, he took part only once in the German championship and in the Europa League.

In Spain, 21-year-old Nikita Iosifov continues to pave the way for the “yellow submarine”. The former Lokomotiv player went to Europe last summer, established himself in Villarreal’s second team, managed to make his championship debut for base and even scored a goal in the first round of the Spanish Cup.

The midfielder regularly participates in training with the first squad. The head coach of the Spanish team, Unai Emery, speaks well about the progress in the Russian team. Nikita can only wait for her luck.

Russians are represented in less “promoted” championships. In Norway, goalkeeper Nikita Khaikin, who won two consecutive titles with Bodø-Glimt, continues to shine. Announcing his retirement from the national team, Fedor Kudryashov will start the Turkish Championship next season under Antalyaspor.

Former Zenith goalkeeper Yuri Lodygin has advanced to the Greek championship and will play for Panathinaikos. Also in Europe remained midfielder Vladislav Levin (Slovakia, Czech Republic), defender Grigory Morozov (Cele, Slovenia), goalkeeper Ivan Konovalov (Livingston, Scotland) and a number of other players.

It is impossible not to mention Stanislav Cherchesov. The former coach of the Russian national team scored a double win with Ferencváros in his first season in the Hungarian Championship and remained at the club, where the specialist had a contract until the summer of 2024. Now Cherchesov and his team are trying to solve the problem of reaching the group stage of the Champions League.