Former Zenit St. Petersburg sporting director Oreste Cinquini has compared two of Russia's brightest young stars, Aleksei Miranchuk and Aleksandr Golovin.

Cinquini has an intimate knowledge of both players from his work with the Russia national team, alongside Fabio Capello, and Zenit.

Golovin broke onto the scene with CSKA Moscow as a teenager in 2014 and quickly becoming one of Europe's brightest young talents.

Chelsea and Juventus were linked with the attacking midfielder, but Golovin, now 23, eventually joined AS Monaco after the World Cup in 2018.

It hasn't been easy for Golovin however, with the Russia international scoring seven times in 65 appearances for the Ligue 1 club.

Miranchuk made his debut for Lokomotiv in 2013 and has since made 212 appearances, as well as winning 25 caps for Russia.

The 24-year-old has attracted interest from a number of clubs in Italy and Manchester United.

And when comparing the two playmakers, Cinquini thinks Miranchuk is better prepared to succeed in Europe than Golovin.

He told Tribalfootball.com: "The second (Golovin) is an important player, a very talented midfielder, after an enthralling start he stopped a bit.

"It must be said that due to their culture these players have difficulties playing and settling in Europe. He is a very good player and a very good boy though.

"Miranchuk is a formidable player, with a superfine technique, he is certainly a top player. Because of their culture, personality, way of being, they can find it difficult to enter European championships.

"We shouldn't forget that many Russians who arrived in Italy had difficulties, but it is true for Europeans in general, we think of Ian Rush at Juventus.

"Adapting to this type of football is problematic. Russians do better in Spain. On Miranchuk I'd put my money on, Golovin instead is a very technical player, perhaps physically he has some limitations because he doesn't have an important physical structure, while Aleksey has physical, technical and personality dominance."