Sardar Azmoun @ Bayer 04 Leverkusen | 2022/2023

[PrinceAli]

actually Zenit get him for 4 more crucial months of probably top level service provided due to facilitating his (probably?) most desired wish move ..!!
far more likely now to win their 4th domestic championship In a Row and thus placing themselves in pole position for lucrative CL football next season..!! Have far better chance of making a deep UEFA Cup league run this year and god knows how much they could yet collect there ..? and so much more .... for some lousy 3-4mil they coulda max earned otherwise releasing him from remainder of his contract early..!!

Well they didn’t really facilitate a thing lol. He signed on a Free Transfer. It was all on himself

[Omid177]

I hope Zenit won't bench him for the next months. But nevertheless, I'm very happy for him. I was very worried seeing him sign for Lyon. Leverkusen is 3rd in the league and a very offensive team. Finally he can show his true potential in a top 5 league.

[Keshwardoost]

cool crowd!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaW0R-oki54


also thx to zenit for nice years of following them and their fun tweets!
they have been a cool club to follow!

[PrinceAli]

I hope Zenit won't bench him for the next months. But nevertheless, I'm very happy for him. I was very worried seeing him sign for Lyon. Leverkusen is 3rd in the league and a very offensive team. Finally he can show his true potential in a top 5 league.

I think they’ll want to try to maximize what they can get out of him for these remaining months. I doubt he’ll be benched

[milad_b]

actually Zenit get him for 4 more crucial months of probably top level service provided due to facilitating his (probably?) most desired wish move ..!!
far more likely now to win their 4th domestic championship In a Row and thus placing themselves in pole position for lucrative CL football next season..!! Have far better chance of making a deep UEFA Cup league run this year and god knows how much they could yet collect there ..? and so much more .... for some lousy 3-4mil they coulda max earned otherwise releasing him from remainder of his contract early..!!

Leverkusen offered zenit 18 million and they refused their offer. Zenit will most probably win the title with or without sardar. They are favored by the government and they have some good players. They are owned by russia's richest company which obviously doesn't care about money so thats why they refused the offers.

I'm just worried that they might bench sardar for some games. You just can't trust these russians

[KasraKhan]

Love the move! Perfect level club where he can start and shine.

BL is the funnest, most entertaining league to watch, and Sardar just gave us an excuse to tune in.

For U.S. members, every BL match is streamed live, HD, English commentary on ESPN+. Well worth the investment.

[Omid177]

I think they’ll want to try to maximize what they can get out of him for these remaining months. I doubt he’ll be benched

I remember when Gucci was in the same position when he played for St.Truiden and was about to leave for Standard liege in a few months. St.Truiden benched him most of the time even though he was their best player. Only when they were behind and needed a goal they subbed him in. Zenit wants slowly to get used without Sardar and that's why I think they will bench him.

[KasraKhan]

I remember when Gucci was in the same position when he played for St.Truiden and was about to leave for Standard liege in a few months. St.Truiden benched him most of the time even though he was their best player. Only when they were behind and needed a goal they subbed him in. Zenit wants slowly to get used without Sardar and that's why I think they will bench him.

Sure, but St. Truiden wasn't playing for anything meaningful.

Zenit is still in the middle of a hotly contested domestic campaign, and will be looking to make a deep run in the EL. They need Sardar. Plain and simple.

[Ghermez Agha]

The biggest W about this IMO is they very clearly wanted him. They offered good money for him and we can surely assume they kept in contact with azmoun and his representatives to keep the dialogue going.

F**k juve who was nickel and diming, I pray leverkusen keeps good form and finishes in a CL spot and torches Juve next year. Same goes to Milan and Manchester City who very clearly had a need for him and ignored him. May Sardar make it rain goals on all of these teams.

Bayer is a great spot to land and I have all the confidence in the world he will fit in like a glove into their team and system from what I have seen. Great move!!!

[PrinceAli]

I remember when Gucci was in the same position when he played for St.Truiden and was about to leave for Standard liege in a few months. St.Truiden benched him most of the time even though he was their best player. Only when they were behind and needed a goal they subbed him in. Zenit wants slowly to get used without Sardar and that's why I think they will bench him.

Possibly, but I don’t think they’ll really benefit by this. St Truiden wasn’t really playing for anything ambitious, whereas Zenit is trying to clinch the Russian title and go as far as possible in the Europa League

Also there’s not much point in trying to get used to life without Sardar considering they’re going to be bringing in his replacement in the summer (most likely Yuri Alberto). They’ll need to be doing their adjustments over the Summer and at the start of next season

[mbaizai]

Great move

[BacheLot]

Well they didn’t really facilitate a thing lol. He signed on a Free Transfer. It was all on himself

they coulda at least attempted to twist his arm into accepting a much more lucrative offer of say Burnley ..? or even snatched a 3or so mil offered earlier by Lyon to shipped him off to a much lesser desirable destination..!!

and no fking way they would bench him frequently these next few months, i can only see that happening if they are assured almost assured of attaining the necessary result from such matches..!
off course with him being a goner, they would be far more likely to prepare themselves for life after Sardar and probably give more minutes to this new striker they brought in matches vs kiri opponents...!!
for time being, barring Dzuba they dont have another proven goal getter at their disposal .... especially vs tougher opponents and in marquee matches still to come..!! and unlike Dzuba, Sardar has not shortchanged Zenit in his performances in order to force a lucrative extension or transfer out .... so they have little insentives to fk with him on that front as a retaliation..!!

my worry like others is that i dont particularly trust sneaky russians .... and i have a feeling now that his future outa of the club is sealed, that ugly child custody battle may well intensify and complicate his life outside the pitch for this next few months especially prior to his eventual departure this summer..!!

wonder if he was offered a signing bonus for his early commitment to bayer..? you'd thinks so..?

[PSGman#19]

Lequipe has an article on how Lyon missed Azmoun. Zenit didn't let him go this winter (alberto will join zenit in june).
Azmoun had contact with bayer and milan ac for this summer, both made a 5 years contract proposal.
Azmoun also had a video call with maldini

[Payam_Ali]

Why is it spelled serdar not sardar??

[inarsenewetrust]

Per lequipe (but uncorroborated by italian sources so take with grain of salt) AC Milan made similar proposal.

If he indeed chose leverkusen over them Im sure hes been given a lot of assurances about his role and what they have in store for his progression.

Think he made a damn smart choice. Leverkusen are an excellently run club where he will be noticed but not under extreme pressure

And for all the shit people talked about his agent and whatnot...The same family friend from Gonbad who was there with him since day 1 in rubin youth team brokered this deal. Sure, maybe the guy had minimal connection, and at certain stages to broker deal they did outsource to different big name agents as intermediaries (like two summers ago during napoli rumors). But at the end of the day their family/entourage and not some exploitative asshole agent got to keep all the signing bonus and commissions for themselves.

This was not a move earned by agent connection, parti bazi, folani reccomended, etc. Sardar worked his ass of for it, proved himself twice over in Russia (not easy to do at all. Many players with his credentials in such leagues prove themselves once and if they dont get the move fail into anonymity). As a result he moves there as a central piece of their project and not somebody who is seen as a prospect or gamble.

If they keep schick they will have one of the most fearsome front lines in europe... Imagine 442 with Wirtz and Diaby, two of brightest wing prospects in the world out wide and Azmoun and Schick partnered up top.