Jose Mourinho has finally got his mitts on Sardar Azmoun three years after a move to Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur fell through for the former Bayer Leverkusen striker.
And, after moving to Italy on a £10 million loan-to-buy deal over the summer, Sardar Azmoun will be hoping to make a better impression at the Stadio Olimpico than he did in the Bundesliga.
The Iran international scored only five times in 32 top-flight games for Bayer Leverkusen. The good news is that, in his new Rome home, Azmoun is finally working under a coach who clearly believes in his talents; Mourinho trying and failing to sign the then-Zenit St Petersburg talisman when he was still in the Tottenham Hotspur hotseat back in 2020.
“I had offers,” Azmoun said at the time, his current employers among them. “From, Roma, Bayer (Leverkusen), and Tottenham Hotspur.
“But all the offers were rejected.”
Sardar Azmoun missed out on Tottenham Hotspur move
At Tottenham, Azmoun would have operated as a back-up to Harry Kane. Spurs eventually brought in Carlos Vinicius on loan from Benfica instead.
Regular starts may be hard to come by at Roma too, especially once Tammy Abraham returns from injury. Even without Abraham, Azmoun faces competition from Italy striker Andrea Belotti and marquee acquisition Romelu Lukaku.
But, as his agent explains, the chance to work with Mourinho at last was still an opportunity Azmoun could not turn down.
‘He didn’t think twice’
“On a technical level, he has always been appreciated by Italian clubs. Ever since the days of Rubin (Kazan) and then Zenit,” Andrea Pellegatti tells Tuttomercatoweb.
“Roma already liked him in 2021, but Zenit asked for a very high fee. In the summer of 2022, he moved to Leverkusen, who had an interesting project and were playing in the Champions League.
“This summer, several Italian clubs appeared, though with less determination than Roma. He always dreamed of being able to work with Mourinho.
“And, when the Roma opportunity arrived, he didn’t think about it twice.”
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