Indian-origin football player may sign for Bordeaux

Azeem Azam’s story is one that shows the other side of the glamour that is usually attached to a footballer’s life. Born to an Indian mother who hails from Kashmir, it was looking like Azeem would take advantage of growing up in the UK to become a top level professional and a famous Asian descent footballer who’s made it big in Europe. But, injuries and a surprising amount of bad luck has played its role in stopping Azeem from reaching the heights he was touted for. Now he is 28 and even though he’s attracting interest from French club Bordeaux, who finished 7th in the Ligue 1 last season, and a few teams from the Middle East, he admits things have not gone as he had planned. “My career has not been really successful, but only due to misfortunes and bad luck. I failed a medical with a massive club like Galatasaray in Turkey in 2011 and had (Gheorghe) Hagi not got the sack by the time I recovered, I would have signed with them and now been on a whole different level,” he told Firstpost in an exclusive interview. [caption id=“attachment_887467” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Azeem Azam at a press conference.[/caption] But it’s not like Azeem has not flirted with breaking into first teams of major clubs in Europe. His sojourns have taken him to AS Monaco, who are currently awash with cash, and also Real Betis. But an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and a string of other major setbacks have seen him spend more time in the medical treatment room than the pitch. That, and manager sackings. Even during his time at Real Betis, the club’s president and manager were sacked the day he signed and the new manager never really took a liking to the left-winger. However, he is finally ready and raring to go: “At 28, I can still hit it right as long as I sign for the right team — hence the careful planning. I would like to be known as a good player once I retire and show it to others that it’s never too late to reach a good level as long as you have drive, self belief, and confidence in your own ability,” he said. There are hundreds of potential stars out there who have been set back due to injury, but Azam’s career is also an example of how the murky world of football works when it comes to agents and external training centres and their influence on the beautiful game. Azam was asked to train at a particular place in London before being hit with a 70,000-pound bill for four months training, where his injuries actually became worse. He went through a hard fight, but there still lingers the regret of not doing the right research before choosing the centre. He has also had troubles with representation: “There was a particular agent who has disrupted my family life as well as my career. I turned down a UAE offer last season due to to this agent’s lies as he kept on telling me he is speaking to such and such. They were all lies. He was speaking to nobody and I passed up the Al Ahli offer. He basically wanted to leech off me and tag along to UAE with me — once you understand the money there is in the Middle East, motives become apparent,” he told us. While it would be a great story to see Azam restored to a top club in Europe, we cheekily asked him whether he ever thought of playing for India since he hasn’t got a senior national cap and qualifies via his mother’s birth. “It has never crossed my mind whether to play for India. But anything is possible — I have come to learn football is a crazy world.”