‘Didn’t think twice’: Mourinho finally gets the £10m striker he wanted for Tottenham
Three years after the former Bayer Leverkusen striker’s move to Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur fell through, Jose Mourinho has finally got his hands on Sardar Azmoun.
And after moving to Italy on a £10million deal in the summer, Sardar Azmoun will be hoping to make a better impression at the Stadio Olimpico than he did in the Bundesliga.
The Iranian international only scored five goals in 32 first division games for Bayer Leverkusen. The good news is that in his new home of Rome, Azmoun is finally working under a coach who clearly believes in his talents; Mourinho tried and failed to sign the then Zenit St. Petersburg talisman while he was still in the Tottenham Hotspur hotseat in 2020.
“I had offers,” Azmoun said at the time, including from his current employers. “From Roma, Bayer (Leverkusen) and Tottenham Hotspur.
“But all offers were rejected.”
Sardar Azmoun missed the move to Tottenham Hotspur
At Tottenham, Azmoun would have acted as a replacement for Harry Kane. Instead, Spurs brought in Carlos Vinicius on loan from Benfica.
Roma could also find it difficult to get into the starting lineup regularly, especially if Tammy Abraham returns from injury. Even without Abraham, Azmoun faces competition from Italian striker Andrea Belotti and new signing Romelu Lukaku.
But as his agent explains, the chance to finally work with Mourinho was still an opportunity Azmoun couldn’t turn down.
“He didn’t think twice about it.”
“On a technical level he was always appreciated by Italian clubs. “Since the days of Rubin (Kazan) and then Zenit,” says Andrea Pellegatti Tuttomercatoweb.
“Roma already liked him in 2021, but Zenit demanded a very high transfer fee. In the summer of 2022 he moved to Leverkusen, who had an interesting project and played in the Champions League.
“Several Italian clubs appeared this summer, but with less determination than Roma. He always dreamed of being able to work with Mourinho.
“And when the opportunity came for Roma, he didn’t think twice about it.”
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