Tag: Sardar Azmoun

Italian media: Roma loses Azmoun to Bayer Leverkusen!

According to some Italian media, Azmoun is heading towards the Bundesliga. The Team Melli central forward who opened his scoring this season with a goal this weekend is the center of much speculation about his immediate future. The player himself is tight-lipped so is the Russian club, but that does not prevent daily news about his possible transfer out of Zenit.

footballItalia.net has published the following report today:

Roma are expected to miss out on Zenit St Petersburg center-forward Sardar Azmoun, as Bayer Leverkusen are closing on a deal.

The Giallorossi and Germans were both interested in the 26-year-old Iran international.

His contract with Zenit is due to expire in June 2022 and he seems ready to move on for a new experience.

According to Tuttomercatoweb, Roma are not going to pursue Azmoun, as he has already pledged his future to Bayer Leverkusen. The Bundesliga outfit still needs to agree terms with Zenit, who are asking for circa €20m.

However, they are expected to whittle it down and probably get closer to that fee than Roma was prepared to pay.

Azmoun has 34 goals in just 52 senior caps for Iran, playing his club football for Rubin Kazan, Rostov and since February 2019 at Zenit.

He found the net 19 times in 29 competitive games for Zenit St Petersburg last season, as well as setting up six goals for his teammates.

List of Iranian Players playing abroad (Legionnaires).

With a couple of marquee players of Team Melli changing clubs at the start of 2021/22 season, it seems like a good idea to check who is who and where are the Iranian footballer playing abroad make their living.

This season’s most prominent transfer was of Alireza Jahanbakhsh who was recruited by Feyenoord Rotterdam and mark his return to the Eredivisie. The other Alireza, Beiranvand moved from Belgium to Portugal where he joined Boavista in the first division to add to the remarkable number of Iranian players in Portugal.

One of the most surprising moves was that of Payam Niazmand, who left Esfahan to join Portimonense in Portugal who already have Ali Alipour in their squad.

The list includes some interesting names too like Bakhtiyar Rahmani who is now playing in Sweden for FF Dalkurd a club in the second division of Sweden SuperEttan. Also included is Steven Beitashour who plays for Colorado Rapids in MSL. The Iranian American who was picked by Carlos Queiroz before World Cup 2014 appeared briefly for Team Melli.  An honorary mention must also go to Mehrdadi Pooladi who is still playing football in the Second Division of Qatar Star League. Pooladi never returned to Iran after the AFC Asian Cup 2015 over a dispute of his military service.

This is by far the most complete list of Iranian players playing abroad. If you have any updates or names that we have omitted, please do send your suggestions to the Chief Editor for inclusion.

The list indicates that 20 players who are on the current selection lists of Team Melli are playing abroad. On the other hand, 11 players who have been former Team Melli players are playing abroad now.

Iranian Legionnaires

#PlayerLeagueClubCountryTeam Melli
Current
Team Melli
Former
England
Saman GhoddosPremier LeagueBrentfordEnglandYES
Ravi ShamsiNon League PremierNuneaton BoroughEngland
Pouriya AhmadiNon League Division OneGlossop North EndEngland
Spain
Amir AbedzadehSegunda DivisiónPonferradinaSpainYES
Germany
Daniel DavariRegionalligaRot-Weiss EssenGermanyYES
Fereydoon ZandiRegionalligaSt. Pauli IIGermanyYES
Ahmad JafariRegionalligaHombergGermany
Aram AbdelkarimRegionalligaStraelenGermany
Ebrahim FarahnakRegionalligaHSC HannoverGermany
Ali SandoghdarOberligaVfL OldenburgGermany
Maziar NamavizadehOberligaRöchling VölklingenGermany
Iman Saghi beRiaOberligaHastedtGermany
Netherlands
Alireza JahanbakhshEredivisieFeyenoordNetherlandsYES
Nabi HakimzadehHoofdklasseHBSNetherlands
Aria HashemiEerste KlasseBest VooruitNetherlands
Australia
Behzad AriayeeQueensland NPLMoreton Bay UnitedAustralia
Azerbaijan
Mehdi SharifiPremyer LiqaSumqay?tAzerbaijanYES
Bangladesh
Khaled ShafieiPremier LeagueBashundhara KingsBangladesh
Belgium
Milad MohammadiFirst Division AGentBelgiumYES
Ali GholizadehFirst Division ASporting CharleroiBelgiumYES
Kaveh RezaeiFirst Division AClub BruggeBelgiumYES
China PR
Morteza PouraliganjiCSLShenzhenChinaYES
Croatia
Sadegh Moharrami1. HNLDinamo ZagrebCroatiaYES
Younes Delfi1. HNLHNK GoricaCroatiaYES
Mohsen Behzadpour3. HNLLu?koCroatia
Denmark
Saeid EzatolahiSuperligaVejleDenmarkYES
Georgia
Mohammad BarzegaraslLiga 3Didube 2014Georgia
Greece
Ehsan HajsafySuper League 1AEK AthensGreeceYES
Karim AnsarifardSuper League 1AEK AthensGreeceYES
Mohammadreza AzadiSuper League 1PanaitolikosGreece
India
Iman BasafaIndian Super LeagueBengaluru FCIndia
Iraq
Milad ZandaIraqi LeagueErbilIraq
Mohammed MhamdianIraqi LeagueNaftIraq
Mehdi DaghaghelehIraqi LeagueNaft MaysanIraq
Kuwait
Ali PourDaraPremier LeagueKuwait SCKuwait
Norway
Sousha MakaniEliteserienMjøndalenNorway
Philippines
Omid NazariPFLUnited CityPhilippinesYES
Portugal
Alireza BeiranvandPrimeira LigaBoavistaPortugalYES
Jafar SalmaniPrimeira LigaPortimonensePortugalYES
Payam NiazmandPrimeira LigaPortimonensePortugalYES
Mehdi TaremiPrimeira LigaPortoPortugalYES
Ali AlipourPrimeira LigaMarítimoPortugalYES
Taha ZareeiCampeonato (4th division)VianensePortugal
Qatar
Ramin RezaeianQatar Stars LeagueAl DuhailQatarYES
Mehrdad MohammadiQatar Stars LeagueAl ArabiQatarYES
Pejman MontazeriQatar Stars LeagueAl KharitiyathQatarYES
Ali KarimiQatar Stars LeagueQatar SCQatarYES
Shojaa KhalilzadehQatar Stars LeagueAl RayyanQatarYES
Mehrdad PooladiSecond DivisionMuaitherQatarYES
Alan Hossein KarimiSecond DivisionLusail CityQatar
Russia
Sardar AzmounPremier LeagueZenitRussiaYES
Scotland
Pedram ArdalanyFootball LeagueCumbernauld ColtsScotland
Slovakia
Iman SalimiSuper LigaSere?Slovakia
Sweden
Bakhtiyar RahmaniEttanDalkurdSwedenYES
Switzerland
Shaho Maroufi1. Liga PromotionStade NyonnaisSwitzerland
Thailand
Hamed BakhtiariThai League 1SuphanburiThailand
Vafa HakhamaneshiThai League 1RatchaburiThailand
Mahan Rahmani NoubariThai League 2Nong Bua PitchayaThailand
Turkey
Mohammad NaderiSüper LigAltay Spor KulübüTurkey
Majid HosseiniSüper LigKayserisporTurkeyYES
Ebrahim AabednezhadBölgesel Amator ligSerinhisarsporTurkey
Davoud Ezat?taghBölgesel Amator ligBiga AdasporTurkey
Ukraine
Allahyar SayadmaneshPremier LeagueZoryaUkraineYES
Shahab ZahediPremier LeagueZoryaUkraine
Siavash HaghnazariPersha LigaVolynUkraine
UAE
Ahmad NoorollahiADNOC LeaugeShabab Al-AhliUAEYES
Mehdi GhaediADNOC LeaugeShabab Al-AhliUAEYES
USA
Steven BeitashourMLSColorado RapidsUSAYES
Arshia AghababazadehUSL ChampionshipAustin BoldUSA
Ramak Nikan SafiNPSLJacksonville Armada IIUSA

Azmoun scores a cheeky goal for Zenit to lift the super cup.

Sardar Azmoun scored a cheeky goal to open his scoring for the new season in his club Zenit St. Petersburg win over Lokomotiv Moscow to help his club lift the Russian Super Cup.

The match between Zenit St. Petersburg and Lokomotiv Moscow ended 3-0 for the Russian League Titleholder.

In the 56th minute of the match played on Saturday in Kaliningrad Stadium, the opener of the Russian Premier League season, Azmoun received a perfect long pass from the Brazilian midfielder Malcom. Azmoun easily dribbled past the on-rushing defender and virtually walked the ball all the way past the goal line after beating the fully stretched Lokomotiv keeper with a shimmy. The Team Melli center forward goal was a continuation of where he left off last season.

After the goal, the second of the night for Zenit, Azmoun was substituted for a well-earned rest.