On Monday, we looked at claims from Il Messaggero that both Arsenal and West Ham were keen on Sardar Azmoun, ‘the Iranian Messi’, who currently plays for Rostov in Russia.
We deduced that, as talented as he was, a move to the London Stadium was way more likely for the 22-year-old, who scored 12 goals in 40 appearances last season, as he would struggle to make it into Arsenal’s first-team straight away.
With this in mind, Wednesday’s edition of Il Tempo make an ever stranger claim, putting forward an interest from Manchester United, who have apparently asked for information about the player, basically meaning ‘is he for sale and would he be interested?’.
Out of all the clubs after him, the Red Devils are probably the most aware of what Azmoun can do, having played against him in the Europa League last season for 77 minutes over the two legs.
Still, this seems like a strange one, despite Azmoun’s 19 goals in 26 appearances for Iran, mostly because Manchester United don’t exactly need another young player up front, what with Martial and Rashford already capable of playing there and the interest in Alvaro Morata.
There are also some ongoing issues regarding the ownership of the player, with Rubin Kazan claiming he is still their player and the release clause triggered by Rostov after his loan there didn’t exist.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport temporarily ruled in favour of Rostov for last season, but a final decision is expected to take place later this month.
If Manchester United are indeed interested, and even if they were we doubt they’d actually make a move, it’s best they stay put until that situation is sorted.
