On 23 January, Bayer Leverkusen officially announced that Iranian striker Azmoun, who currently plays for Russian Premier League side Zenit St. Petersburg, will move to Bayer Leverkusen on a free leave in July 2022.
The Iranian striker has long been famous and at the age of 27 he will finally head to Europe's top five leagues.
As early as January 2013, Azmoun, who had just turned 18, left Iran and went to the Russian Super League to join Kazan Ruby. Ten months later, Azmoun made his debut in the Russian Premier League, and in his first season in the Russian Premier League, he made 14 appearances for the Kazan Ruby, scoring 4 goals and adapting quite quickly.
After several seasons of training for Russian Premier League teams Kazan Ruby and Rostov, Azmoun moved to Russian Premier League powerhouse Zenit St. Petersburg in February 2019 to take a broader stage. After joining Zenit, Azmoun's goal efficiency has improved significantly, and so far, the Iranian striker has represented Zenit in 79 appearances in Russia, scoring 52 goals, and the goal efficiency is quite high.
Among them, in the 2019-20 season, Azmun, who scored 17 goals in 28 appearances, tied with teammate Djuba in the Russian Premier Golden Boot.
In the 2020-21 season, Azmoun, who scored 19 goals in 24 appearances, ranked second in the Russian Super League top scorer list, and Russian high school striker Djoba defended the Golden Boot with 20 goals. Azmun and Djoba have formed the sharpest forward combination in the Russian Premier League in recent years, and the two have helped Zenit easily achieve the Russian Premier League triple crown, in the 2021-22 Russian Premier League, Zenit is currently leading the table, and the team is impacting the Russian Premier League for four consecutive titles.
In the Russian Premier League, Azmoun has been playing for 9 seasons, and as he has improved his performance, his value has also continued to rise, and the Iranian striker is currently worth 25 million euros. After playing the 2021-22 season with Zeni, Azmoun will travel to the top five european leagues for a free transfer to Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen.
In the past few years, there have been many Iranian players who have broken into the Bundesliga, such as Ali Dei, Bagheri, Aziz, Madaviya, Karimi, Hashmian, Dejaga and other Iranian players who have left their footprints in the Bundesliga, including many successful examples. Six months later, Azmoun will follow in their footsteps and ascend to the Bundesliga.
In addition to maintaining a high goal rate at club level, Azmoun also scored with amazing efficiency in the Iranian national team. So far, he has scored 39 goals in 60 appearances for the Iranian national team, tied for third in the iranian national team's all-time top scorer list with the retired Nekonnan, and the top two are Ali Dei, who scored 109 goals, and Bagheri, who scored 50 goals.
In the 2015 Asian Cup, the then 20-year-old Azmoun had already made a name for himself, and in the group stage, Iran won 1-0 against Qatar, Azmoun scored the only goal of the game, when after receiving a cross from his teammate, he turned around and pulled the ball inside the box to break the goal, and the action was impressive.
In the 2019 Asian Cup, Azmoun scored 4 goals, including 3-0 elimination of China in the 1/4 final, he scored 1 goal and contributed 1 assist, and repeatedly completed steals in the front court, which broke the Chinese team's defense.
Now, after nine seasons in the Russian Premier League, at the golden age of 27-year-old players, Azmoun will finally step onto the stage of Europe's five major leagues. New challenges await the Iranian striker.