PROFILE | Aleksandr Golovin fixes glass frame to finally assert himself at Monaco

Up until last season, Aleksandr Golovin’s career at AS Monaco had been defined by recurrent injuries. The potential shown during the 2018 World Cup, which attracted the interest of Chelsea, looked increasingly unlikely to be realised. However, injury-free for the first time since his arrival in the Principality club, the Russian playmaker has asserted himself as one of the best players in Ligue 1. 

Through various injuries, including adductor pain, thigh problems, hamstring injuries, jip injuries, and ankle sprains, Golovin has missed 45 games since joining Les Monégasques in the summer of 2018.  

However, those persistent injuries came to a rather sudden end last season. The arrival of now-former Monaco manager Philippe Clement, who in tandem with now-former performance director James Bunce, signalled a change. The duo worked together to resolve the recurring injury problems that had dogged Golovin’s Monaco career. 

Bunce told Get French Football News’ Luke Entwistle that Clement was “the best coach I’ve seen at trying to build those blocks and build them on an individual pathway because not everyone can do the same training.” Finding the right regime to, as Clement put it, build Golovin’s “motor” and “bodywork” has been the key to getting the best out of the player.

That physical growth, now in the absence of Clement and Bunce, has continued this season. “Maybe this year I am in even better shape than last year. I had a good pre-season as well, which has also made me stronger,” said Golovin in December, who added that he had tailored his regime and gym work to focus on areas that have previously been susceptible to injuries. 

Both Golovin himself, as well as Monaco’s performance staff deserve credit for the work done, and