CSKA Moscow midfielder Aleksandr Golovin has been told to ignore the speculation surrounding his future and just focus on his football.

CSKA Moscow face Manchester United in the Champions League on Wednesday night and it’s bound to be a tough test. However, former Rubin Kazan coach Rinat Bilyaletdinov has urged Arsenal-linked Golovin to put aside all speculation over his future and get his head in the game.

“Golovin does not need to clog his head with the wrong stuff,” said Bilyaletdinov.

“He must do his job and think about his team, and not try to please someone. I’m sure most of the news about interest in Alexandr from England is fiction. I can admit his transfer to Hull City and Leonid Slutsky can work, but for the other teams he is not ready yet.

“The vegetable is not yet ripe to be ripped off.”

Golovin has been heavily linked with a move to Arsenal since it emerged that Arsene Wenger had allegedly contacted Sandor Varga, the former agent of ex-Arsenal player Oleg Luzhny, for a second opinion on the Russia international. This was in June.

In July, CSKA Moscow general director Roman Babaev admitted that the Gunners had been keeping tabs on the 21-year-old. Arsenal never made an official bid though and Hull City have also been linked.

Golovin has already made 16 appearances for CSKA Moscow this season, scoring twice and assisting once in the Russian league. The central midfielder has started in all 10 of their league matches so far.

He still has four years left on his current deal.

CSKA Moscow won their opening Champions League match against Benfica 2-1 while United also beat Basel FC 3-0.

The match takes place in Russia at the VEB arena, which is just under 2,000 miles away from Manchester, so the traveling Red Devils may need a strong coffee before they step out on the pitch…