Why you’ve never heard of the world’s most improved footballer

New Spartak Moscow full-back Vladislav Saus is the most improved footballer in the world over the past six months, ahead of the likes of Lennart Karl and Jacobo Ramon – but why?

Every season, new talents burst onto the scene. The 2025/26 campaign has been no different. In the Premier League, Mateus Mane and Rio Ngumoha have made waves.

In the Bundesliga, Bayern teenager Karl, Koln winger Said El Mala and Stuttgart midfielder Chema Andres, a product of Real Madrid’s academy, have attracted widespread attention. Another Real Madrid Castilla graduate, the aforementioned Ramon, has impressed in Serie A.

However, according to data analytics firm SciSports, none of them has enjoyed quite as rapid a development as a little-known Russian who is playing his first season of proper top-flight football at age 22.

Vladislav Saus, signed by Russian Premier League giants Spartak from Baltika in January, has been the most improved player in world football over the past six months.

Why Saus has developed so rapidly

The RPL has lost a lot of its international appeal since the COVID-19 pandemic and Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. Although football has continued unabated, Russia has become a pariah state, and its teams have been expelled from FIFA and UEFA.

As a result of the pandemic and post-invasion sanctions, Russian football suffered a noticeable slump. Unable to sign European stars, the lavish transfer fees and wages previously paid to players vanished for a while and have only returned over the last couple of seasons.

CSKA Moscow, for example, offered a club-record-shattering €30 million for breakout Levante star Karl Etta Eyong in the winter transfer window, while Zenit, whose dominance of the RPL has been ended by Krasnodar, have splashed the cash on South American talent this season.

Spartak, too, have invested heavily. Gedson Fernandes was signed in the summer for a sizeable €20.8m. In January, Saus arrived from Kaliningrad-based Baltika for €3.8m.

A versatile wide man who can play as a winger and a full-back, the 22-year-old is a product of Zenit’s academy, but he never managed to establish himself in St. Petersburg. He won the second division with Baltika last term and enjoyed a remarkable first half of 2025/26.

The promoted club surged up the RPL table and entered the winter break, which only ended at the weekend, in an impressive fifth place – ahead of Spartak. In fact, Baltika actually beat Spartak twice before the break.

You know what they say: if you can’t beat ’em, sign ’em. Or something like that. Well, Spartak signed Saus, and having never even played for a Russian youth national team, he now looks a good bet to eventually become a senior international.

But what makes Saus so good? He played as a wing-back at Baltika, but his offensive numbers don’t particularly stand out. He only notched a goal and two assists in 17 RPL games for them.

His offensive output certainly needs to improve. He is not a particularly great passer or average crosser of the ball, according to SciSports, which analyses hundreds of in-game data points.

What makes him so good is his defensive work as well as his athleticism. Saus isn’t particularly tall, but he is easily one of the fastest players in the RPL. Asked by RB Sport if he could beat Kylian Mbappe in a 30-meter dash, Saus backed himself. “I think he would have a good chance of winning,” he responded, half joking.

His defensive nous is also very good for a player who has often been utilised in a slightly more advanced role. He produced two outstanding displays against Spartak and believes that this played a significant part in his signing.

“I scored my first goal in the RPL against the Red-and-Whites,” he explained. “Then, when we were down a man, I played really well defensively against Spartak’s left flank, which was considered one of the strongest in the league at the time.”

However, despite his recent rise to promise. Saus is determined to remain humble. “Even now, after moving to such a big club, I don’t think I’m some kind of great player or playing at a stratospheric level,” he admitted. “I’m moving calmly toward my goal. I’m just glad I joined Spartak.”

He dreams of eventually playing in LaLiga or the Premier League. Whether this is realistic amid the current sanctions regime is doubtful, but Saus is certainly on the right track, as illustrated by SciSports’ data.

The analytics firm uses a points-based SciSkill system to illustrate a player’s current level as well as their potential. Over the past six months, Saus has been bumped up by a whopping 44.3 points – the biggest increase for any player in the world.

His current SciSkill level of 93.8 makes him a solid player for lower-tier Premier League clubs.

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