After a slow start in Ligue 1, the young Russian is now poised to explode in France's top flight
During the summer transfer window, it seemed Monaco had completed a real coup by signing Aleksandr Golovin from CSKA Moscow.
The 22-year-old arrived in France for a fee of €30 million (£26m/$34m), with the principality side having beaten off competition from the likes of Real Madrid for his signature. He had impressed with Russia during the World Cup and was widely expected to be one of the stars of the season for the principality side.
Indeed, head coach Leonardo Jardim described him as the club’s “most important signing” back in September.