Originally posted by Babak
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The Sardar Azmoun situation
Did the Azmoun story sour your relationship with the club and its upper management?
I don’t think so. The information about his contract was not clearly presented to the management. He had a $2.5 million release clause in his contract, and any club that matched this price could sign the player if he was willing. So, Rostov sent an official enquiry, offering $2.5 million. Rubin didn’t react, and after 30 days, the player could just leave the club. So, Azmoun essentially left Rubin on a free transfer. This was a question of decency: all documents were present, but the information wasn’t presented in a clear way. There was no sense to sue Rostov.
How long is Azmoun’s current contract with Rubin?
We signed him for free, for three years. There’s no release clause. He asked not to set an elaborate asking price. He trusts us.
What is his potential?
His big weakness is that he doesn’t handle outside pressure very well. There was huge, crazy interest in him: all the clubs called us and his father. Top clubs at that: Arsenal, Celtic. Everton’s Iranian owner contacted me and tried to reach a transfer agreement. Azmoun has millions of fans, incredible amounts of attention – and he couldn’t handle it. He came to Rubin as a star, after a good season, and his head was in the clouds. I’m grateful to God that he tested him in such way. If he hadn’t scored a single goal, it would’ve been even better for him. I told him that Allah was punishing him for getting carried away with fame: “You’ll have a lot of chances, but you’ll never score.” He tempted the fate in Rostov where he had just two or three chances, but scored consistently, his conversion rate was crazy. But luck means very much for a forward. As a result, Serdar lost his place both in the club and in the national team, then he got injured. This unprofessionalism was the cause of his difficult season. Only in the game against Lokomotiv I saw the Azmoun we really needed.
Will this period strengthen him?
Periods like this are necessary. I’m glad he went through it.
The club signed another Iranian this summer, [Reza] Shekari. Is his potential as good as Azmoun?
His potential is very high. He was on trial in Rostov for us. But he’s still in his formative years as a player, his fitness isn’t perfect, sometimes he strains his muscles. He’s getting stronger gradually. He was in the list of best young players complied by The Guardian. But we scouted him back when we were in Rostov, he trained with us in one of our training campa.
Is the Iranian market beyond the Europeans’ comprehension?
They simply don’t know it. This market is limitless.
Was it discovered by Dmitry Samarenkin?
You’re talking about Alireza Haghigi? We did know about him before, but Rubin signed him [in 2012] without asking us. He was weaker than our current players. It was just a marketing ploy. But the guy lost valuable time here, lost his place in the national team, went on loans. He could’ve grown into a good goalkeeper.
What are you expecting from Azmoun in the future?
I think he’s going to prove himself at the World Cup. In the future, he can realise his potential at a top club. I don’t doubt that because I know the forwards playing at top clubs, and I know his abilities, so I know what I say is true. It’s very hard to win an aerial duel against him and he’s also very quick. Both Azmoun and Kanunnikov are victims of our lack of creative players in midfield. When we review our tacticss, I show the team how many times Kanunnikov and Azmoun get into good positions to go one on one with the keeper. In one game, I counted four such moments for Kanunnikov and two for Azmoun, but they didn’t receive a single pass. And they have learned a lot. Especially Kanunnikov – he didn’t understand before how to receive the ball while half-turned, for example. It’s also not exactly his position, he’s more comfortable on the wing. But he did learn and changed his game. I think that our changes in training will help our midfielders to see the forwards and give them accurate through balls. We’re working a lot on that.
https://twitter.com/RusFootballNews/...19097189744645
Did the Azmoun story sour your relationship with the club and its upper management?
I don’t think so. The information about his contract was not clearly presented to the management. He had a $2.5 million release clause in his contract, and any club that matched this price could sign the player if he was willing. So, Rostov sent an official enquiry, offering $2.5 million. Rubin didn’t react, and after 30 days, the player could just leave the club. So, Azmoun essentially left Rubin on a free transfer. This was a question of decency: all documents were present, but the information wasn’t presented in a clear way. There was no sense to sue Rostov.
How long is Azmoun’s current contract with Rubin?
We signed him for free, for three years. There’s no release clause. He asked not to set an elaborate asking price. He trusts us.
What is his potential?
His big weakness is that he doesn’t handle outside pressure very well. There was huge, crazy interest in him: all the clubs called us and his father. Top clubs at that: Arsenal, Celtic. Everton’s Iranian owner contacted me and tried to reach a transfer agreement. Azmoun has millions of fans, incredible amounts of attention – and he couldn’t handle it. He came to Rubin as a star, after a good season, and his head was in the clouds. I’m grateful to God that he tested him in such way. If he hadn’t scored a single goal, it would’ve been even better for him. I told him that Allah was punishing him for getting carried away with fame: “You’ll have a lot of chances, but you’ll never score.” He tempted the fate in Rostov where he had just two or three chances, but scored consistently, his conversion rate was crazy. But luck means very much for a forward. As a result, Serdar lost his place both in the club and in the national team, then he got injured. This unprofessionalism was the cause of his difficult season. Only in the game against Lokomotiv I saw the Azmoun we really needed.
Will this period strengthen him?
Periods like this are necessary. I’m glad he went through it.
The club signed another Iranian this summer, [Reza] Shekari. Is his potential as good as Azmoun?
His potential is very high. He was on trial in Rostov for us. But he’s still in his formative years as a player, his fitness isn’t perfect, sometimes he strains his muscles. He’s getting stronger gradually. He was in the list of best young players complied by The Guardian. But we scouted him back when we were in Rostov, he trained with us in one of our training campa.
Is the Iranian market beyond the Europeans’ comprehension?
They simply don’t know it. This market is limitless.
Was it discovered by Dmitry Samarenkin?
You’re talking about Alireza Haghigi? We did know about him before, but Rubin signed him [in 2012] without asking us. He was weaker than our current players. It was just a marketing ploy. But the guy lost valuable time here, lost his place in the national team, went on loans. He could’ve grown into a good goalkeeper.
What are you expecting from Azmoun in the future?
I think he’s going to prove himself at the World Cup. In the future, he can realise his potential at a top club. I don’t doubt that because I know the forwards playing at top clubs, and I know his abilities, so I know what I say is true. It’s very hard to win an aerial duel against him and he’s also very quick. Both Azmoun and Kanunnikov are victims of our lack of creative players in midfield. When we review our tacticss, I show the team how many times Kanunnikov and Azmoun get into good positions to go one on one with the keeper. In one game, I counted four such moments for Kanunnikov and two for Azmoun, but they didn’t receive a single pass. And they have learned a lot. Especially Kanunnikov – he didn’t understand before how to receive the ball while half-turned, for example. It’s also not exactly his position, he’s more comfortable on the wing. But he did learn and changed his game. I think that our changes in training will help our midfielders to see the forwards and give them accurate through balls. We’re working a lot on that.
https://twitter.com/RusFootballNews/...19097189744645
I can imagine. He was a good prospect but not that very special when he was in Iran. 
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