Iran’s Sardar Azmoun will be perhaps one of the lesser known quantities at this summer’s World Cup in Russia, although that is unlikely to remain the case for long.
Referred to by the press as the “Iranian Messi”, the youngster, himself, prefers to be compared to former Sweden icon Zlatan Ibrahimovic, thanks to a rare aerial prowess developed during a childhood playing both football and volleyball.
The 23-year-old forward, who plays his club football in the host country for Rubin Kazan, is so highly rated back home that supporters are expecting him to become Iran’s most successful player ever.
Touted as the successor to legendary Team Melli’s all-time top goalscorer, Ali Daei, Azmoun carries the hopes of a nation on his shoulders ahead of a tough group stage line-up, consisting of Morocco, Spain and Portugal.
Azmoun, who was born in Gonbad-e Kavus in Iran, joined Rubin Kazan from Sepahan in his homeland and was loaned to Rostov before joining them permanently in 2016.
Rostov activated a buy-out clause in Azmoun’s contract, and despite a legal challenge from with Rubin Kazan, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that he was Rostov’s player.
However, despite his fractious departure, he would return to Rubin Kazan in the summer of 2017. This season he has scored five goals in 26 Russian Premier League appearances for Volzháne.
Having been capped 33 times by his country, scoring 23 goals, Azmoun is now going some way towards justifying links with Ali Daei. Already, he finds himself among the top five of Iran’s all-time goalscorers.
Showing a knack for scoring crucial goals in big games, he recorded the only strike in the home win over South Korea last October that underlined Iran’s position as favourites to qualify for the World Cup finals.
While he has impressed at club level, some of his best form has been for his country, with a run of impressive goals during Carlos Queiroz’s side’s unbeaten qualifying run for the 2018 World Cup.
Azmoun return to Rubin Kazan triggered the buy out clause in Azmoun’s contract. Rubin denied this clause and claimed Azmoun was their player. Rubin lodged a complaint with FIFA. FC Rostov filed a counter-complaint with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and in July 2016 CAS temporarily ruled in favour of Azmoun and he was included in Rostov’s UEFA Champions League squad. According to Rostov’s lawyer Yuri Zaytsev, the final CAS decision on his status might not be reached until late 2016 or even the summer of 2017.
Azmoun made his Champions League debut in the same year in the first leg of a third-round qualifying round match against Anderlecht at Olimp – 2, coming on for Aleksandr Bukharov scoring at the 56th minute. He started in the return leg in August 2016 and scored his first Champions League goal in the 47th minute, helping Rostov advance 4–2 on aggregate.He scored his second Champions League goal on 24 August 2016 in the return leg of the playoff round match against Ajax, scoring the opening goal in a 4–1 victory which resulted in Rostov advancing to the group stage of the Champions League for the first time. Azmoun scored on 1 November 2016 in a Rostov’s 2–1 Champions League group stage loss against Atlético Madrid. In the process, he became the first Iranian to score in the Champions League group stage since Ali Karimi in 2005.
In November 2016, Azmoun scored his second Champions League goal in the group stage against Bayern Munich at home, leading Rostov to a 3–2 victory and their first ever official Champions League group stage win.
After his good performances and goals in the UEFA Champions League, he attracted attention leading to European giants such as Marseille, Liverpool, Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, and Bayer Leverkusen showing huge interest in signing him.
On 6 November 2016, Azmoun scored his first Russian Premier League goal of the 2016–17 season in a 4–1 victory. He scored his second goal of the season on 28 November against Anzhi Makhachkala. On 26 January 2017, FIFA rejected appeals by FC Rubin Kazan related to Azmoun’s transfer to Rostov and ruled that there were no obligations outstanding towards Rubin.On 3 March 2017, in the first league game after the end of the winter break, Azmoun scored twice in a 6–0 victory against FC Tom Tomsk. He scored another brace against his former side Rubin Kazan.
After the end of the 2016–17 season, Azmoun received interest from Scottish giants Celtic, English Premier League club Everton, and La Liga side Valencia.