Celtic tried and failed to lure Sardar Azmoun to the Scottish Premiership and now he’s playing in Russia for Zenit St Petersburg.
It is almost a year now since Sardar Azmoun was tipped to become Celtic’s new record signing.
According to The Sunday People (22nd April, page 48), the Scottish Premiership champions were hoping to lure the so-called ‘Iranian Messi’ to Glasgow despite interest from the likes of Everton, Wolves and Fulham.
With a £10 million price tag, Azmoun would have been the most expensive player in Celtic’s history. And on current form, it looks like he would have been worth every penny.
Despite continued links with a move to British shores, Azmoun swapped one Russian club for another in January. He left Rubin Kazan to join the giants of Zenit St Petersburg for a fee of £10.5 million, according to L’Equipe.
And now he is in the form of his life. Azmoun has scored five times in his last four games for Zenit, including a clinical double in a Europa League victory against Fenerbahce.
Blessed with a ruthless finish and a terrific leap, Azmoun looks more like a young Cristiano Ronaldo than Lionel Messi right now.
And with Celtic’s strikers enduring rather mixed seasons, Odsonne Edouard struggling to convince while Leigh Griffiths remains absent, it is tempting to wonder whether Azmoun would have been worthy of becoming the club’s first ever eight-figure signing.
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