Azmoun relishing fresh start in Asian football
When Sardar Azmoun joined UAE Pro League club Shabab Al Ahli in July, his move was deemed by many as the beginning of the end for the Iranian striker.
Three months on, the 29-year-old has been quick to silence those critical of his decision by bagging 12 goals and double assists in 14 appearances across all competitions.
Azmoun was a rare product of the Iranian youth system to kickstart his senior career in European club football, when he joined Rubin Kazan in the Russian Premier Liga from Sepahan under-19 side back in 2013.
Azmoun then went on to take the Russian league by storm for the best part of nine years, scoring 85 goals in 208 outings for three teams – as well as memorable strikes against Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League.
His 52 strikes and 20 assists in 79 league games helped Zenit St. Petersburg lift the top-flight trophy on four occasions, while the Iranian won the top scorer prize in the 2019/20 season before being named the Player of the Season the following campaign.
Time came for Azmoun to embark on a new chapter by joining one of the major European leagues as he signed for Bayer Leverkusen in January 2022.
Azmoun struggled to make an impact at Bayer Leverkusen, scoring five goals and providing teammates with five assists in 44 matches, leading the club to loan him to Serie A side AS Roma for the start of the 2023/24 season.
His season-long spell in the Giallorossi colors was similarly underwhelming, with three goals in 29 appearances – most of which came as a substitute – under Jose Mourinho and Daniele De Rossi as he battled a couple of injury setbacks, while committed to international duty for the AFC Asian Cup earlier this year.
On his return from the loan spell in the Italian capital, Azmoun failed to report for Leverkusen’s first preseason training session in July, indicating he would have no part to play in head coach Xabi Alonso’s plans for their Bundesliga title defense.
All the downward trajectory in his career, regarding goals and game time, led the Iranian fans and pundits to believe the Team Melli talisman’s best years were behind him, and his move to the Emirati league, despite reported interest form La Liga side Sevilla, only reinforced this notion.
Azmoun, however, has had other ideas.
He marked his Asian club debut with a goal in his home country, as Shabab Al Ahli hammered Sepahan 4-1 in the AFC Champions League Elite playoffs, though Shabab Al Ahli failed to progress to the league phase of the competition after the defeat against Al Gharafa in the final round of the preliminaries.
Azmoun’s tally of six goals in as many games has seen the Iranian sit third in the domestic league’s leading marksmen chart, while Shabab Al Ahli trails Sharjah on top the table by one point with a game in hand.
His latest contribution came in an AFC Champions League Two visit to Al Hussein of Jordan in Group D, where his superb volley strike from behind the box inspired the Emirati side to a comeback 3-2 victory and a knockout place in the continent’s second-tier club competition.