Tag: Sardar Azmoun

Azmoun doubtful for Korea match adding to the absentees list.

Team Melli will be with 4 key players for the top-of-the-table match versus South Korea in Seoul next month. “Sardar Azmoun’s ligament damage is still bothering him, he still needs treatment. I can’t say exactly when he will be able to play.” declared  the head coach of Bayer Gerardo Seoane “

Azmoun will need another 3-4 weeks to fully recover which will possibly mean he will miss the match in Seoul. Azmoun’s absence on the top of the 3 known absentees due to suspension and disciplinary issues. Moharrami is out for two matches due to his red card against the UAE, Ezatollahi is also suspended due to accumulations of yellow cards, and KananiZadegan is suspended by the FFIRI for misdemeanors he committed including endangering the health of his Team Melli colleagues by attempting to invite a girl while he was on COVID19 quarantine.

While the four players’ absence seems to be significant on paper, the pleasant surprise is that Team Melli has such a strength in depth that no dramatic action is needed to address these absentees.

Dragan Skocic has many options to replace Azmoun and Ezatollahi as he has a good number of replacements. In defense, with two absentees, it sounds more difficult but Siavaush Yazadni has performed well on his debut in the central defensive role, while Majid Hosseini, Milad Mohammadi, Saleh Hardani, and Aref Agasi are all capable to fill the roles in the defense.

 So, although Team Melli is not at 100% strength, it is hardly a crisis situation facing the Koreans and then Lebanon at Azadi in what is a formality matches as Team Melli already had qualified.

Sardar Azmoun: Bayer Leverkusen Add Goals And Depth Below Market Value

Manuel Veth

Manuel Veth: Contributor SportsMoney
It is one of the more exciting transfers of this Bundesliga transfer window. On the day before deadline day, Bayer Leverkusen signed Sardar Azmoun for $4.4 million from Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg. The 27-year-old Iranian had previously agreed on a free summer transfer with Die Werkself. Overall it is a brilliant deal for Leverkusen, who signed the forward in a deal significantly below Azmoun’s $27.5 million Transfermarkt market value.

“We’re delighted to have completed this transfer,” Bayer Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes said in a club statement. “Sardar Azmoun has been one of Russian football’s top goalscorers for several years. He’s been champion three years in a row there with Zenit, regularly played in the Champions League, and shown himself to be of international class at the highest level. Our attack gains extra quality with him. Sardar will make our attack even more unpredictable and powerful.”

Azmoun, without a doubt, brings added depth to Leverkusen’s attack. The 27-year-old has been a star in Russia for some time and joined Zenit from Rubin Kazan in February 2019 in a deal worth $13.2 million. It was Kazan who found the striker in Iran, where he played for Sepahan’s youth academy. But it would be at Rostov where Azmoun made a name for himself, scoring 25 goals and six assists in 77 games. Two of those goals came against Bayern Munich and Atlético Madrid in Rostov’s memorable 2016/17 Champions League campaign.

Rostov had bought the striker for just $2.53 million in 2016 from Rubin Kazan. But Russian football is not always that straightforward. Like many Russian clubs, Rostov always struggled with finances, and Azmoun wanted out of the club. Around that time, Azmoun was consistently linked with a move to one of the top four leagues; reports suggested links to Liverpool, several Italian clubs, but also Borussia Dortmund.

Instead, what happened was so very typical for business practices of clubs in the post-Soviet space. Only very few institutions in the region are able to develop players and sell them at the right time. Also, players often fail to find the right move, add agents to the mix, and it becomes a difficult proposition all around. Azmoun, for example, did not move to Europe but instead back to Rubin Kazan in 2017, where the owner, the Republic of Tatarstan, was once again on a spending spree.

Those spending sprees, however, also come and go; Rubin as a club has always been between very rich and very poor; there is no middle ground. As a result, Azmoun was sold to Zenit in 2019. For most talented players based in Russia, the story would have ended here—Zenit, owned by Gazprom, can pay wages at a tax rate that is often impossible to match for the big clubs in Europe and, as a result, players are unlikely to move on.

The same was thought of Azmoun, but instead, the Iranian has made the move to a top-four league after all. What remains to be seen is whether the move comes at the right time; Azmoun is no longer a talent but, at 27, a veteran. At the same time, that can be an asset too; Leverkusen receives a player with significant experience in the ups and downs of a football career.

But how will Azmoun fit in the squad? At first glance, Azmoun is a clear-cut number 9, and in that position, Leverkusen has Patrik Schick, one of the most productive strikers in European football. But Schick has been heavily linked with a move to Borussia Dortmund, where he could replace Erling Haaland. Azmoun could be an investment for the future, a possible replacement for the Czech goalscoring machine.

There is, however, also room for Schick and Azmoun to play together. Although most commonly employed as a lone-striker in a 3-4-3 system by Zenit this season, Azmoun has also played with a Schick type of number 9 in Artem Dzyuba this year. Azmoun can add more tactical depth to Gerardo Seoane’s side at Leverkusen. In fact, the Swiss head coach previously preferred a 4-4-2 system rather than the 4-2-3-1 system used by Leverkusen this year, adding Azmoun now.

Manuel Veth is the host of the Bundesliga Gegenpressing Podcast and the Area Manager USA at Transfermarkt. He has also been published in the Guardian, Newsweek, Howler, Pro Soccer USA, and several other outlets. Follow him on Twitter: @ManuelVeth 

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Manuel Veth

Striker Azmoun moves to Leverkusen earlier than planned.

Leverkusen (DPA)

Football Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen has brought forward the signing of Iranian national striker Sardar Azmoun.

Sunday, 30.01.2022, 16:21 hrs

Sardar Azmoun (r) will move to Leverkusen in the winter. Photo: Dmitri Lovetsky/AP/dpa

Both clubs announced that the 27-year-old will move to the Rhineland in the winter transfer period. “We are happy about the constructive agreement with Zenit and that we can now rely on Sardar’s qualities at an early stage,” said sporting director Simon Rolfes. A week ago, the club had reported the actually transfer-free transfer Azmoun’s for summer as perfect. The goalscorer, who scored 39 goals in 60 international matches and became champion three times in a row with Zenit, signed a contract until 2027 with Bayer Leverkusen.

Meanwhile, Zenit has officially confirmed through their Twitter account. that Sardar will be leaving the club with immediate effect. The club wishes to thank Sardar Azmoun for all the work and dedication that he displayed as a valuable member of the team.

Presenting Sardar’s statistics in the Zenit team, the club wrote: “The striker scored 62 goals and provided 17 assists in 104 games for Zenit. Taking into account the goals he scored for FC Rostov and Rubin Kazan, this striker, along with Wagner (85 goals each), are the top foreign players/scorer in the history of the Russian championship.”
The final part of the message reads: “Zenit Club thanks Sardar Azmoun for his incredible performance, the joy of our joint victories, and the love for Zenit and its fans. “Thank you for everything, Sardar!“

Sardar Azmoun finalized the transfer details for the end of the season with Bayer Leverkusen a few days ago and the player was supposed to play in the German Bundesliga at the start of season 2022/23 in a 5-year contract. However, the news of the Azmoun agreement with Leverkusen spread in the media, angering Zenit managers and making them think of selling the striker to Leverkusen in the same winter transfers window. The 20-year-old striker of the Brazilian International team, “Yuri Alberto”, will replace the Azmoun in Zenit.

Sardar Azmoun may join Bayer Leverkusen as early as next week!

A French journalist claimed that the Iranian striker would terminate his contract this winter and will immediately join the Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen in the winter transfer window.

Zenit striker Sardar Azmoun will terminate his contract with Zenit St Petersburg ahead of schedule and join Leverkusen this winter, RMC Sports correspondent Luis Tanzi reported on Twitter, according to RMC. The German club will most likely pay for the Azmoun contract period.

One week ago, Azmoon signed a contract with Bayer until 2027. The player’s current contract is with Zenit is valid until the summer of 2022. Azmoun has scored 10 goals and provided 4 assists in 21 games for Zenit this season. The Zenit club announced that the player will not attend Zenit training for two weeks and will be in quarantine so that he can regain his health. Thus, the striker of Bayer Leverkusen next season will be absent for two weeks, even in the training sessions of his club team, and will not be available for the Team Melli game against the UAE in FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifiers on Tuesday 1st February.

Sayyadmanish will not be in Tehran on time for Iraq match!

It seems that Team Melli will not be able to have any of its forward against Iraq.

Taremi is still at large waiting for a flight out of Turkey with hundreds of flights grounded due to severe weather, Sardar Azmoun out of the squad due to positive test result, and Karim Ansarifard still in transit not able to join, now it is announced that Allahyar Sayyadmanish does not have his passport and unable to travel to Tehran.

  Ahmad Noorullahi,, Majid Hosseini, and Ehsan HajSafi are also out due to PCR test positive results.

The absence of Allahyar Sayadmanesh, who is due to leave Fenerbahce for Hull City in England soon, is due to administrative work for a trip to England. Mojtaba Khorshidi, the Manager of the Iranian national team, said in this regard: “Sayyadmanesh announced that he does not have his passport because he is going to transfer to the English team and he will be unable to come to Tehran.”

As it is, the team is experiencing a serious depletion of its force with the main strikers out.

There are still a few good options for Dragan Skocic though, as Karim Ansarifard, should be available despite not taking part in any group training, Mehdi Ghaedi, Kaveh Rezaei, and Alireza Jahanbakhsh who can operate as a winger or central forward. Shahab Zahedi may also play his first match under the circumstances.

Positive cases 3 and more bad news for Team Melli ahead of the crucial qualifiers.

A number of legionnaires invited to Team Melli training camp and the subsequent matches versus Iraq and UAE have not yet been able to join their teammates at the team’s camp in Tehran.

Mojtaba Khorshidi said “the latest situation of the legionnaires is as follows: Mehdi Taremi is still stuck in that small town in Turkey due to snowfall and poor flight conditions, and it is not yet clear what time he will leave for Iran. Karim Ansarifard has also recently arrived in Dubai after changing his flight route from Turkey to the UAE.  Sardar Azmoun has not yet traveled from Paris to Dubai.”

The Manager of Team Melli in response to the fact that these legionnaires will not arrive in time at the national team camp said: “Even if they leave now as we speak, they will be absent from training because they need to follow the health protocols process as they will have to quarantine first until the corona test result is proved negative. After the negative tests can join the squad and start training. As a result, they will be absent from today’s (Wednesday) practice. Regarding Azmoun, Nourollahi and Hajsafi, they can join the team’s camp after their corona test is negative: ‌ You know that the course of contracting Omicron is 3 to 7 days. We have to see what happens in the coming days.”

Khorshidi also mentioned the situation of 13 players who have joined the national team yesterday: “The PCR test results of these players has not arrived yet. This will probably happen in the next two hours, and after the tests are negative, they can start training. :

The Manager of the national team commented on the addition of new players to the national team camp from the waiting list: “The coaching staff has not decided yet.”

According to ISNA, since yesterday, the PCR test of three key players of Team Melli has been positive. Nourollahi, Azmoun, and Hajsafi are the players who will be absent from this camp.

Only Kamal Kamiabinia has been added to the squad from the waiting list as a replacement for Nourollahi.

Team Melli will face Iraq in two days’ time in a match that could be the qualification prize for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. Iran needs three points from the next two games to book its place to Doha, Qatar

Burnley dealt transfer blow as striker target joins Bayer Leverkusen

Burnley’s hopes of landing striker Sardar Azmoun are over after the 27-year-old agreed to a deal with German side Bayer Leverkusen.

The Zenit St Petersburg star is out of contract in the summer and Burnley’were keen on the hotshot and made a bid, believed to be around £8million. While the Russian club were prepared to deal at that price other suitors, including Juventus and Lyon, meant the player was prepared to weigh up his options.

And he has now signed for Leverkusen, penning a contract until 2027.

Iranian international Azmoun has scored 10 times in 21 games this season.

Burnley is struggling at the foot of the Premier League table this season with many games in hand due to Covid. They have also sold their best striker to Newcastle. The chances of surviving relegation is quite thin. On the other hand, Bayer Leverkusen is enjoying a successful season in the German top flight. With 20 games played, the club is ranked 3rd in the table behind Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, and a place in the next season UEFA Champions League seems to be well within reach of the club.

 

Sardar Azmoun signed by Bayern Leverkusen in the summer

Bayer Leverkusen have confirmed the signing of Sardar Azmoun from the summer of 2022, with the Iranian international joining from Zenit St. Petersburg on a five-year contract.

Azmoun, a 27-year-old forward with an eye for goals and assists, will compete for a place in Leverkusen’s starting attack with Patrik Schick and Lucas Alario when he makes his move to Bundesliga football in the summer.

“[It is] a step from the best club in Russia to one of the best leagues in Europe,” he told the Bundesliga club’s website.

“Bayer Leverkusen have a really great squad. I’ve been keeping an eye on the club for a long time and am impressed by the team’s style of play. It’s incredibly exciting for me soon to be able to play in the Bundesliga. And I’m convinced I’ll make the team even better with my footballing ability.”

Capped 60 times by Iran, an impressive 39 goals for his country compliments his selection for the World Cup in 2018 and two Asian Cup squads in 2015 and 2019.

As well as being the youngest Iranian to score in a UEFA Champions League game, he is also the Iranian record-holder for the most goals scored in the competition with six goals.

He has spent his professional career entirely in the Russian top flight with two spells each at Rubin Kazan and Rostov preceding his transfer to Zenit in 2019.

In St. Petersburg, he has found the net 62 times in 104 appearances across all competitions. He was named Russia’s Footballer of the Year for 2021 and his impressive goal stats have continued into this season, in which he has scored 10 goals in 21 games – including two strikes in the Champions League.

“We’re delighted to have completed this transfer,” said Leverkusen’s sporting director Simon Rolfes.

“Sardar Azmoun has been one of Russian football’s top goalscorers for several years. He’s been champion three years in a row there with Zenit, regularly played in the Champions League, and shown himself to be of international class at the highest level. Our attack gains extra quality with him. Sardar will make our attack even more unpredictable and powerful.”

Managing director for sport, Rudi Völler added: “He’s very quick, good in the air and has a good sense for space. But he’s not just a goalscorer. Sardar Azmoun also sets up a lot of goals and is an outstanding fit for the Werkself as a player who combines well with others.”

 Olympique Lyonne , French League 1 side has reached an agreement with Zenit Saint Petersburg striker Sardar Azmoun for a transfer this winter. But it remains to convince the Russian club to let go of its striker six months before the end of his contract.

The news carried by the French publication lequipe, but none of the stakeholders, including the player himself, confirmed the deal.

Lyon have been seeking Azmoun for some time, but it seems that this might be the closest and most serious attempt to recruit Team Melli striker.

The 26-year-old, who is manager Peter Bosz’s priority for January, almost joined over the summer before his club was unable to organize a replacement in time. Les Gones have now resumed discussions with the forward ahead of a potential January move, and have now reached an agreement with him.

The contract would consist of a four and a half year deal, while Azmoun’s brother and mother were reportedly in France this week to look at houses, L’Équipe wrote.

Nevertheless, Zenit poses once again an obstacle to the deal going over the line, although this winter will be their last chance to obtain a transfer fee – expected to be around €3m, despite the Iran international’s €25m valuation last year.

Group A: IR Iran tighten grip with victory over Syria

the-afc.com    – 16.Nov.2021

Amman: A dominant display from the Islamic Republic of Iran at the King Abdullah II Stadium saw them cruise past Syria 3-0 on Matchday Six of the AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to Qatar on Tuesday.
Team Melli went into the game off the back of a five-match unbeaten run, and they cemented their place at the top of Group A with a fifth win in their last six, moving up to 16 points, while Syria was rooted to the foot of the group without a win and remained there after the game.

A touch away from creating a goalscoring opportunity, Syria watched on as Omar Al Soma’s attempted through pass at the edge of the opponent’s box was intercepted and turned into the quickest of counterattacks with Vahid Amiri supplying an exquisite overhead pass for Sardar Azmoun, who broke through between the Syrian center-backs and kept his composure to slot home the opener for IR Iran in the 33rd minute.

Both Amiri and Al Soma were involved in the build-up to another attempt nine minutes later. This time the Iranian winger attempted a cross on from the left with Syria’s number 9 blocking his path and Al Soma’s misfortune continued as he was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the box, leading to the visitors being awarded a penalty that Ehsan Hajsafi (pictured below) duly converted to make it 2-0.

A quick Syrian response saw the Qasioun Eagles come within millimeters of instantly halving the deficit as Mahmoud Al Mawas showed nifty feet to trick two Iranian defenders and rifle from just outside the box, but he watched in agony as his effort beat goalkeeper Amir Abedzadeh only to cannon off the underside of the crossbar and out.

Ahmad Nourollahi nearly found the back of the net for the second game in a row as he attempted his luck in back-to-back shots just after the 70th minute, but the Shabab Al Ahli midfielder was denied on both occasions by the fingertips of Syrian goalkeeper Khalid Al Haji who made flying saves.

Gholizadeh went from provider to scorer, doing so in style with his last touch of the ball before being replaced by Mehdi Ghayedi in the final minute of the match.

The RSC Charleroi winger beat the offside trap and went on to waltz his way past three Syrian defenders before calmly placing the ball into the bottom corner to confirm the Iranian victory with a third goal.

Iran continues their campaign at home against Iraq at the end of January while Syria’s chase of a first win sees them traveling to third-placed United Arab Emirates next.

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