Manchester United and England star striker Alessia Russo has been thrust into the spotlight after the tremendous year she has had, from the audacious backheel to help England’s Lionesses on to Euros glory to the last-minute bid for her to join Arsenal’s setup in the dying moments of the January transfer window.
Despite starting the season off with a minor knock which kept her out of action until late October, Russo has made herself a staple in the England set-up with yet another tournament under her belt as Sarina Wiegman names her in the squad for mid-February’s Arnold Clark Cup.
At United, the star striker has scored five goals in 10 league games, making her the Reds' top scorer. Arguably the most dramatic goal was the header against Arsenal in stoppage time to steal the win in front of a 40,000-strong crowd and was named November's PFA Vertu Motors Fans' Player of the Month prior to the Christmas break.
United manager Marc Skinner continues to express his admiration for Russo and her attitude: “I can't speak highly enough of her as a person.”
After the goalless tie against Everton at the weekend, he said: “Alessia’s in a good mood and good spirit, we had a chat the other day just to get her focused on what we need to do but it was an easy chat so she's ready, she knows exactly what we want to achieve here and she's a huge part of that.”
So far this campaign, she has progressed her game exponentially, helping her side with selfless performances, dropping deep and initiating attacks from linkup play with Ella Toone and Leah Galton and providing quality through-balls and crosses into dangerous areas.
Russo's defensive qualities have also shone - in the Manchester derby Russo fought valiantly against City’s Yui Hasegawa several times to block the host’s attempts on goal that brought her right back onto her own goal line; a perfect example of a team player.
Russo is out of a contract in the summer as she declined to sign an extension with Manchester United in the last off-season and the club also declined the move to Arsenal late in the January window.
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