Month: February 2022

Sardar Azmoun: Bayer Leverkusen Add Goals And Depth Below Market Value

Manuel Veth

Manuel Veth: Contributor SportsMoney
It is one of the more exciting transfers of this Bundesliga transfer window. On the day before deadline day, Bayer Leverkusen signed Sardar Azmoun for $4.4 million from Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg. The 27-year-old Iranian had previously agreed on a free summer transfer with Die Werkself. Overall it is a brilliant deal for Leverkusen, who signed the forward in a deal significantly below Azmoun’s $27.5 million Transfermarkt market value.

“We’re delighted to have completed this transfer,” Bayer Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes said in a club statement. “Sardar Azmoun has been one of Russian football’s top goalscorers for several years. He’s been champion three years in a row there with Zenit, regularly played in the Champions League, and shown himself to be of international class at the highest level. Our attack gains extra quality with him. Sardar will make our attack even more unpredictable and powerful.”

Azmoun, without a doubt, brings added depth to Leverkusen’s attack. The 27-year-old has been a star in Russia for some time and joined Zenit from Rubin Kazan in February 2019 in a deal worth $13.2 million. It was Kazan who found the striker in Iran, where he played for Sepahan’s youth academy. But it would be at Rostov where Azmoun made a name for himself, scoring 25 goals and six assists in 77 games. Two of those goals came against Bayern Munich and Atlético Madrid in Rostov’s memorable 2016/17 Champions League campaign.

Rostov had bought the striker for just $2.53 million in 2016 from Rubin Kazan. But Russian football is not always that straightforward. Like many Russian clubs, Rostov always struggled with finances, and Azmoun wanted out of the club. Around that time, Azmoun was consistently linked with a move to one of the top four leagues; reports suggested links to Liverpool, several Italian clubs, but also Borussia Dortmund.

Instead, what happened was so very typical for business practices of clubs in the post-Soviet space. Only very few institutions in the region are able to develop players and sell them at the right time. Also, players often fail to find the right move, add agents to the mix, and it becomes a difficult proposition all around. Azmoun, for example, did not move to Europe but instead back to Rubin Kazan in 2017, where the owner, the Republic of Tatarstan, was once again on a spending spree.

Those spending sprees, however, also come and go; Rubin as a club has always been between very rich and very poor; there is no middle ground. As a result, Azmoun was sold to Zenit in 2019. For most talented players based in Russia, the story would have ended here—Zenit, owned by Gazprom, can pay wages at a tax rate that is often impossible to match for the big clubs in Europe and, as a result, players are unlikely to move on.

The same was thought of Azmoun, but instead, the Iranian has made the move to a top-four league after all. What remains to be seen is whether the move comes at the right time; Azmoun is no longer a talent but, at 27, a veteran. At the same time, that can be an asset too; Leverkusen receives a player with significant experience in the ups and downs of a football career.

But how will Azmoun fit in the squad? At first glance, Azmoun is a clear-cut number 9, and in that position, Leverkusen has Patrik Schick, one of the most productive strikers in European football. But Schick has been heavily linked with a move to Borussia Dortmund, where he could replace Erling Haaland. Azmoun could be an investment for the future, a possible replacement for the Czech goalscoring machine.

There is, however, also room for Schick and Azmoun to play together. Although most commonly employed as a lone-striker in a 3-4-3 system by Zenit this season, Azmoun has also played with a Schick type of number 9 in Artem Dzyuba this year. Azmoun can add more tactical depth to Gerardo Seoane’s side at Leverkusen. In fact, the Swiss head coach previously preferred a 4-4-2 system rather than the 4-2-3-1 system used by Leverkusen this year, adding Azmoun now.

Manuel Veth is the host of the Bundesliga Gegenpressing Podcast and the Area Manager USA at Transfermarkt. He has also been published in the Guardian, Newsweek, Howler, Pro Soccer USA, and several other outlets. Follow him on Twitter: @ManuelVeth 

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Manuel Veth

The never ending lies and decption of the officials!

While the Omid Team is in turmoil and the scheduled team training in FIFA Day was not held due to the pending administrative and contractual issues ( non-payment of coaches salaries and not finalizing and signing of the contracts) which lead to the cancellation of the Omid Training Camp, the president of the football federation FFIRI and the president of the National Olympic Committee denied all those facts and turned them upside down claiming that Omid Team is progressing well

The camp of the national Olympic football team (Omid) was supposed to be held under the supervision of Mehdi Mahdavikia from the 25th January to the 1st February, but this camp was never commenced due to lack of necessary planning by the Football Federation and non-conclusion of the national team coaches contracts including Mehdi Mahdavikia himself and his assistants!

However, Shahabuddin Azizi Khadem, president of the Football Federation FFIRI, and Seyed Reza Salehi Amiri, president of the National Olympic Committee NOC, as the team’s trustees, denied any wrongdoing, saying that the National Olympic team had no problems whatsoever!!. “The Omid team is doing its job according to plan. We participated in the Central Asian Games and will go to Uzbekistan. This federation is different from the ones before in that it has already started the preparation of Omid team for the Paris Olympics, which we have already done,” Azizi Khadem said. “It was not like that before. I hope the Omid national team gets better conditions. We have to go to Uzbekistan for the final of the Asian Championship in June. We hope Mahdavikia will start working soon again according to the plans.”

          • Mahdavikia pays his assistants wages from his own pocket.
          • The one-week training camp in Kish Isle was canceled 
          • Director of communication of Omid Team resigns.
          • Azizi-Khadem in full denial

A day before this statement, Salehi Amiri had said: “I am in contact with Azizi Khadem. Mahdavikia is also seriously pursuing and organizing, and I personally believe that the Omid team, given its capacity in the football community and its presence. The well-respected coach that this team has, we will shine in Hangzhou.”

A few hours later after Sazlehi-Amiri’s statement and assurance, that the media director of the Omid national team submitted his resignation,

Pointing to many problems in the national Olympic (Omid) team in a text he posted on his personal Instagram page, the director said  “the contracts of the head coach and assistant coaches of the Omid national team have not been signed even after about five months from initial agreement on the contents. This is what was supposed to happen after the recent meeting of the Board of Directors of the Football Federation, but has not been done yet, and this is only one of the aggravations and problems of the technical staff of the Iranian U-23 national team.

“The non-payment of players’ bonuses, the cancellation of the national team camps (which was supposed to be held on Kish Island with matches against foreign teams) as well as the uncertainty of the team’s manager and coaches are among the events that led to the cancellation of the team’s recent camp. On hearing the cancellation of the camp, the foreign coaches did not travel to Iran!”

The media director wrote in his message that “Mahdavikia paid the salaries of his three foreign assistants out of his own pocket so that the non-commitment and lack of obligation in the football federation would not take on an international dimension!”

“Mahdavi’s Assistants had participated in the Asian Under-23 qualifiers from September to November 2021 without any contract. In this turbulent situation that is not hidden from anyone,”

Azizi Khadem and Salehi Amiri, with their lack of honesty, sweet talk their way on how their respective organizations are determined to succeed in the Asian U23 Championship and the Asian Games with such confidence to the degree of promising the fans to finally end the spell of consecutive failures of over 40 years of Omid Team failure to qualify for the Olympics. It looks like they both believe that by turning the facts upside down and living in denial, no one notices the shortcomings and broken promises, disrespect for the contracts. While it seems like a standard operating procedure for preparing the Omid or the Iranian Olympics team, and after about half a century, professional planning, commitment, financial support needed for the success of this team is still lacking big time. Instead, lies, denials, deception, and delusion is still rife from those inept personnel running football and other sports affair in Iran.

Like the Persian proverb goes “It’s the same soup and the same bowl”!

Broumand says “Do Not repeat World Cup 1998 mistake!”

Parviz Broumand was part of the Team Melli squad that qualified for the FIFA World Cup 1998. This team was arguably one of the best that represented Iran at such a level. IN Lyon, Iran beat USA 2-1 in a match that gripped the world registering Iran’s first-ever win in the World Cup.  “the 1998 team was capable of qualifying for the next round but for poor decision-making by the federation” according to Broumand.

Asked in an interview if he agrees with some voices that Team Melli needs a better coach than the current Croat, Dragan Skocic, Broumand response was emphatic:”

“I do not accept this argument at all,” he said in response to some comments that the team could qualify from the group stage with a coach greater than Skocic. “We are human beings after all and it is not fair to commit injustice. It is true that Skocic became the head coach of Team Melli at a time when our players mostly play abroad and are of higher quality, but it is far from humane to replace Skocic after all the hard work that he has done and especially qualification with such ease.”

“He has worked in a challenging environment and spent time with the national team familiarizing himself and he has no obvious technical problems. Maybe they raise the issue of charisma, which again I say is not a problem. Do not let this unsettling mindset they set up for the 1998 World Cup be repeated again.” Broumand said.

He went on to elaborate further ” The group of players of that era was excellent and unique. We could have advanced from our group in the World Cup, but with a mistake, Ivic was replaced and left Team Melli camp with tears in his eyes and Jalal Talebi became the head coach. In our group, Germany had an aging team while we were capable of getting the result against Yugoslavia under professional guidance”

“Decisions that have been taken in haste and due to some political interference from people not aware of modern football and Team Melli affairs robbed us from this opportunity” Broumand warned.

Parviz Broumand echos the view of many critics who believed that the Federation was hasty in sacking one of the Worlds finest coaches at the time

FFIRI sacked Croatian coach Tomislav Ivic just three weeks before the start of the World Cup finals after the national team lost 7-1 to Italian club AS Roma in a friendly match. The Croat head coach of the team Tomislav Ivic paid for that meaningless loss and was dismissed to be replaced by Jalal Talebi.

The former goalkeeper of Team Melli commented on Amir Abedzadeh being inside the national team’s goal: “Like his father, I was proud of him, not in terms of playing, but because of the feeling I had. When Ahmad Reza Abedzadeh’s son entered the field, I felt that I was the goalkeeper of Team Melli and I felt nostalgic. After many years, another honor was bestowed on Ahmad Reza (Abedzadeh) and this time his son was inside the goal. The respect displayed by Amir after the game going to his father was beautiful. I congratulated Ahmad Reza and his wife after the game with Iraq, and I hope this success will continue for Amir.”

Mahdavikia resigns from FFIRI Technical Committee

A report on an Iranian sports website has claimed that Mehdi Mahdavikia, the former Team Melli player and the current Head Coach of Omid Team, has resigned his post as a member of the federation’s Technical Committee.

“Tarafdari ” claims that not only Mahdavikia is not willing to be a part of the committee he has shown reluctance in continuing his work with Omid Team (U23) too.

This site writes that FIFA  has sent an invitation to MahdaviKia as the representative of Iran to attend the online meeting of the technical directors of the football federations of the member states, however, in response to this invitation, Mahdavikia said that he is no longer the technical director of FFIRI.

After Mahdavikia’s response to FIFA that he is no longer representing Iran, the world governing football body sends a letter to the Football Federation of Iran FFIRI inquiring about this and asking the Football Federation to introduce a replacement for MahdaviKia to attend the FIFA online meeting.

The expectation is that there are currently two candidates who can represent the FFIRI in this virtual meeting. Mirshad Majedi, the chairman of the Youth Committee and a member of the Board of Directors of the Football Federation, and Bijan Zolfagharansab, who has recently become the chairman of the “Technical and Development Committee” of the Football Federation. The latter’s post is more appropriate for the subject of the meeting.

Earlier, ZolfagharNasab had also announced that he had not been notified of the decision to select him for this post and that it was only speculation.

While Mahadvikia quitting his post is indicative of internal disagreements in the “Technical and Development Committee” or a dispute between Mahdavikia and the FFIRI management, the role of the Technical Committee has been marginalized and damaged during the Queiroz era. It is effectively toothless with no power or authority to do anything of worth to develop football at any level in Iran.

The fact that Mahadvikia agreed to join, was surprising knowing that the committee is no more than a formality and suffers a distinct lack of transparency.

There was no confirmation on the FFIRI website confirming or denying this information.

A critical look at Team Melli.

Team Melli got the result it wanted against the UAE and put further pressure on Korea Rep for the race at the top of the group. With qualification assured, it was an excellent opportunity for Dragan Skocic to introduce changes in the lineup, but to the great disappointment of many, he stuck with the same players except for those enforced changes such as through suspensions or Covid.

If the mission of Skocic was just to finish the match with three points and minimum damage, then he achieved that objective, but it was far from pretty. A countless number of passes went astray, the finishing in front of the goal was abysmal, final balls lacking accuracy, misunderstanding between players and lack the sense of urgency and accuracy. Players were guilty of some unprofessional works at this level. Team Melli must look beyond the final two games of the group, although the one against Korea is a good test, and start looking forward to how would they like to play and compete.

To be recognized and accepted, Team Melli has a long way to go in a relatively limited time period.

Player’s selections and Opportunities

Skocic pick for the match was frustrating. If Team Melli has any aspiration to stand and be counted amongst the elite in Qatar, then Skocic must think positively and bravely to build a team of 23 highly-rated players and not just stick with a skeleton of 11 to 13 fixed starters. That was Queiroz regime style and despite the limited success of Queiroz’s team, it failed to go beyond the group stages in Russia and did not win the title in the Asian Cup 2019.

To give players confidence, Skocic must offer them the chance to play and perform. The bench players must be as good as the main players. Bench players must be integrated and there is no better way of such integration except actually giving them the minutes at any opportunity.

Skočić missed that opportunity against the UAE. Perhaps fear of losing was the catalyst and that is understandable. It is not a crime for a coach to be result-oriented, however, there is a time when the future integration and strength of the team must take priority.

Shaky individual Performances

Non-performing players or those who are consistently playing sub-standard games must realize that they would lose their place in the lineup. For example, both Ghoddos and Gholizadeh were poor against Iraq, yet they both kept their places against UAE. To create the spirit of competition amongst the players, Skocic could have dropped them for this match to send a signal to everyone else that there is no such thing as a permanent place in the team, sub-standard performances have consequences, there are alternative options who can fill the gap and the team is more important than the interest of the individuals.

That methodology has proven to work, as the problem with Taremi proved not long ago.

Most professional coaches religiously adhere to this mindset, Skocic must follow too. If a player is selected to play, he must deliver.

If a player continues playing weakly and yet he is still picked up for matches, there will be a sense of injustice and disappointment in the team the consequences of which is unimaginable.

Players must feel that bad performances will have consequences and hence give it 100% effort. Players in Team Melli must understand that there are at least two if not more players that can take their place if they do not deliver. This is missing in Skocic team.

Professional players of this generation will develop a false sense of security and believe in their own vitalness. Only a good professional coach can change that.

Disciplinary acts.

Then there was another disturbing part. The disciplinary record of Team Melli is absolutely dismal. There are far too many yellow and red cards awarded to them. It is an indication of lack of guile, professionalism, and most probably negligence.  There are certain Team Melli players that one feels could be dismissed anytime due to a wild or mistimed tackle, pure negligence, and lack of maturity. leading to suspensions and negative effects on the team. Whatever it takes, Skocic and his coaching staff must strengthen the mental agility and emotional control of the players. The World Cup is too valuable of a place for the Team to lose players through suspensions because of loss of concentration.

Game Plan

While there were some nice touches and inter-passing, despite the lack of continuity, the game plan against the UAE was not clear specifically at the forward end. There were few crosses on the flanks while Iran has the best players who could cross. There was also a lack of aerial firepower up front where the like of Taremi can excel, the direction and control of the midfield were lost mainly due to the failure of the Team Melli midfielders in keeping the ball and timely distribution. Game plans normally do not cater for players’ dismissal and that could have been a reason for the bewilderment of the team, however, even with one player short, Team Melli still managed to miss at least two certain goals!

Creativity and flexibility.

Team Melli is struggling to break down compact defense teams. Even if that is successfully done, the rate of conversion against the chances created is poor. There has been an embarrassing number of easy scoring chances missed

The problems stem from the heart of midfield. The sight of Team Melli probing from side to side, with a painful lack of incision, has left some critics lacking in confidence in the team. Flanks that feed the tall attackers seem to go missing in action. Apart from Jahanbakhsh, no other midfield player seems to have the vision and the creativity that is required at the top-level competition. The generations of Khodadad Aziz, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Ali Karimi, Nekounam which then continued with Mojtaba Jabbari, Ando Teymourian, and Ashkan Dejagah have served the Team well through the years, now such creativity is simply lacking.

The root cause is the standard of the domestic league in Iran which is feeble and has failed to produce the quality required at the international level. The solution at Skocic’s hand. Somehow he must address this complicated issue.

Players rating vs UAE

Amir Abedzadeh : Another commanding, confident and perfect display. Despite the few attacks by the opposing team, Abedzadeh handled the ball and any aerial threat with ease and did not put a foot wrong, Oozes with confidence and that transmits to the defenders in front of him too [8.75]

Sadegh Moharrami : Disappointing premature game end for such a skillful half-back. His second yellow card and subsequent dismissal were unprofessional, reckless, and negligent for a player at the international level. We sincerely hope that a good lesson is learned  [5.0]

Omid Noorafkan : In the makeshift defense line, Noorafkan played well as a central defender partnering with Kananizadegan. Solid and steady although the UAE attacks were sparse and hardly threatening [7.7]

Milad Mohammadi: Had a quiet game, but it is apparent that this pacey defender has lost some of his finer touches. His ball distribution and passing lacked accuracy and was guilty of some bad passes [6.8]

Hossein Kanani-zadegan : Another solid performance at the center of defense. His timely header saved the Team a certain goal. Despite playing in an unusual formation with his regular partner (Khalilzadeh) missing, his coordination with Noorafkan was immaculate. [8.4]

Saeed Ezatollahi : Still wobbly and at times acts like a bull in a china store. The defensive work was as expected but he lacks consistency. Got himself booked for an unnecessary foul, then escaped another booking minutes later with a bad tackle. [6.7]

Saman Ghoddos : The second consecutive game in a row that Saman looks lackluster. It was not a difficult decision for Skocic to sacrifice him after Moharrami was dismissed. He made little difference in the team and lacked proper and accurate ball distribution for his teammates. It is a pity as Ghoddos is a highly technical and visionary football. He has yet to deliver at Team Melli though. [6.0]

Ali Gholizadeh : After a marvelous run late in the second half where he showed tremendous skills, his run towards the UAE goal and the feeble shoot on goal, while Taremi on his left was wide open, is bordering a crime. He did not have a good game like his partner Ghoddos. It is unsettling and as such robbing the team of creativity. Missed two glorious goal-scoring chances [6.3]    

Alireza Jahanbakhsh : Another top performance from the Captain of Team Melli. His enthusiasm, skill, and vision are going to be much needed if Iran has any aspiration in qualifying from the group stages of the World Cup. He is the Maestro of the team [8.9] Man of the Match

Mehdi Taremi : He delivers when needed. That goal against UAE was a poacher’s goal and that is what makes Taremi so special and a valuable asset to the team. He suffered from some fatigue especially when he had to return back and cover for the team missing a player, but still performed admirably [8.8]

Vahid Amiri : A few flashes of brilliance but Amiri like many of his teammates today lacked the high passing accuracy. It is expected from him to feed the forwards with crosses, but they were scarce and far apart thus hardly creating any threats. He still covered quite well in the back when needed. [7.5]

Substitutes

Ahmad Nourollahi : Found it hard to control the midfield after he came as a substitute. His one shot at goal was way off target., otherwise he had a quiet game. Perhaps recovering from Covid had some effect on his performance  [7.0]

Saleh Hardani : taking into account his status as a new member of the team, he played with confidence and boldness against quite a pacey UAE winger. He never let his guard down and filled Moharrami’s slot quite well. A very good prospect and a player that needs to be given more playing time [7.8]

Siavaush Yazdani Moghadam : Not enough playing time to rate him, but in the opportunity given, he played well without any problem.to be

Iran edge UAE to maintain tight grip on top spot

the-afc.com

Tehran: Ten-man Islamic Republic of Iran extended their unbeaten run in the AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to Qatar to eight matches with a 1-0 home win over the UAE in Group A on Tuesday.

The home side had already qualified to Qatar 2022 last week after beating Iraq 1-0, but they still fielded a full-strength side and produced another win and a clean sheet despite their numerical disadvantage for over 40 minutes.

The earliest attempt of the game came after Ali Saleh spotted Amir Abedzadeh off his line and tried to catch him off guard from 45 yards out but lacked precision with his aim.

IR Iran came within inches of opening the scoring in the 32nd minute when the UAE defense failed to deal with a deflected cross, and the ball fell to Alireza Jahanbakhsh who sent it first time across the mouth of goal for Mehdi Taremi who could not connect inside the six-yard-box.

UAE’s first shot on target arrived in the last minute of the opening half when full-back Bandar Al Ahbabi tested Abedzadeh from a long-range free-kick, but the Iranian goalkeeper calmly collected it.

The stalemate was finally ended by the home side after Jahanbakhsh sent a cross from the right that was headed against the upright by Ali Gholizadeh before Taremi followed through on the half-volley to hand Team Melli the lead and match China PR’s Wu Lei at the top of the qualifiers’ scorers charts with four goals.

The game dynamics changed four minutes after the restart as IR Iran right-back Sadegh Moharrami received his marching orders following a heavy challenge on Abdulla Ramadan.

From that point, possession was dominated by the visiting side while the Iranians looked to absorb the pressure and hit on the break.

Team Melli nearly doubled their tally against the run of play when Jahanbakhsh led a quick counter attack and beat his marker before rifling from distance, forcing goalkeeper Ali Khaseif to produce a world class save, parrying it behind for a corner.

Coach Bert van Marwijk threw all his attacking weapons in an attempt to find the equalizer, but goalkeeper Abedzadeh stood tall to deny Caio and Sebastian Tagliabue on multiple occasions to help IR Iran hold out for the victory.

The result means IR Iran increase their tally to 22 points, two ahead of the Korea Republic which also joined them in Qatar 2022 earlier in the day. Meanwhile, the UAE remains third but their lead over fourth-placed Lebanon is reduced to three points with two games to go.

MATCH STATS

Iran

4-3-3
 1 – 0 United Arab Emirates

4-2-3-1
WC Qualification Asia

Iran
2 S. Moharrami 38‎‘‎49‎‘‎ DF
5 M. Mohammadi 83‎‘‎ DF
6 S. Ezatolahi 23‎‘‎59‎‘‎ MF
7 A. Jahanbakhsh 84‎‘‎ FW
9 M. Taremi 44‎‘‎ FW
11 V. Amiri MF
13 H. Kanani DF
14 S. Ghoddos 54‎‘‎ MF
17 A. Gholizadeh FW
18 O. Noorafkan DF
22 A. Abedzadeh GK

Substitutes
8 A. Nourollahi 59‎‘‎59‎‘‎ Sub
15 Saleh Hardani 54‎‘‎54‎‘‎ Sub
20 S. Yazdani Moghadam 83‎‘‎83‎‘‎ Sub

Manager
– Skočić MAN

United Arab Emirates
1 Ali Khaseif GK
3 Waleed Abbas DF
8 Majed Hassan 74‎‘‎ MF
9 Bandar Mohamed DF
10 Tahnoon Al Zaabi 84‎‘‎ MF
11 Caio Canedo FW
13 Mohammed Al Attas DF
14 Khalil Ibrahim 67‎‘‎ MF
16 Ali Saleh 67‎‘‎ MF
18 Abdalla Ramadan 90‎+‎2‎‘‎ MF
21 Mahmoud Khamis 86‎‘‎ DF

Substitutes
2 Zayed Al Ameri 86‎‘‎86‎‘‎ Sub
5 Harib Abdalla Suhail 67‎‘‎67‎‘‎ Sub
19 Yahya Al Ghassani 74‎‘‎74‎‘‎ Sub
20 Sebastián Tagliabúe 67‎‘‎67‎‘‎ Sub

Manager
– van Marwijk MAN

Final training before UAE match

The final Team Melli’s training session before the game against the UAE was held at 15:30 Monday, at the No. 2 field of the National Football Center.

The training in the presence of the Iranian Minister of Youth and Sports and hordes of news photographers was conducted under strict health protocols. Social distancing with the media was strictly observed.

* Ahmad Nourollahi,  who missed the match against Iraq due to Corona, returned to training after his latest PCR Test was Negative.  He was the subject of attention by the photographers and members of the media.

* With Beiranvand’s absence, the head coach invited Akhbari as the third Team Melli keeper for the match against the UAE.

Shahabuddin Azizi Khadem, the president of FFIRI was hosting the minister and both had a friendly chat with the players and coaches before the start of training.

* The players warmed up at the beginning of the practice and then in single-player groups, they carried out one-on-one passes.

* The representative of the Asian Football Confederation attended the training of the Iranian national team and monitored all the training points and the presence of the media to ensure compliance with the health protocols.

* The media left the training ground after 40 minutes of training today according to AFC rules.

 

Team Melli striker Mehdi Taremi offered to Arsenal

According to CBS sports website, A dramatic deadline day looks set to end with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leaving Arsenal with Barcelona has reached an agreement to sign the former Gunners’ club captain on a free transfer. Arsenal who looks like having a crisis in the forward line, with their two main strikers being out of contract in the summer has already failed to attract the Serbian forward Dusan Vlahovic from Fiorentina after Juventus secured his services for a €70m transfer fee

The Gunners have also been offered several players on loan this month, including Real Madrid’s Luka Jovic and Team Melli striker Mehdi Taremi of Porto, and have been working to upgrade Arteta’s strikeforce before the transfer window closes Monday night. Meanwhile, Arsenal have made one signing, securing the services of Colorado Rapids center back Auston Trusty.

Porto, meanwhile, have lost three of their key players in recent weeks, namely Jose Corona, Sergio Oliveira, and Luis Diaz, and it is unlikely that the Porto boss will take another move in the transfer window. Mehdi Taremi who scored the winning goal against Iraq on Thursday to qualify for the World Cup 2022,  is currently in the camp of Team Melli and will face the UAE tomorrow.

It will be suicidal for Porto to part with Taremi at this stage, especially since they are challenging for the League titke.

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