TEHRAN – Italian football club Napoli have shown interest in signing Iranian international forward Sardar Azmoun, 'Corriere dello Sport' reported.

Napoli are monitoring the situation of out-of-favor Real Madrid striker Luka Jovic but another option for the Italian giants is Zenit striker Azmoun, who has scored eleven goals and five assists so far this season.

Azmoun, dubbed "the Iranian Lionel Messi", has been repeatedly linked with a move to English Premier League teams in the recent years but the transfer has not yet happened.

The 25-year-old forward has represented Iran at the 2015 and 2019 AFC Asian Cups and the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Azmoun had joined Rubin Kazan from Iranian club Stephan in 2013 and spent the 2015-16 season on loan at FC Rostov. He moved to Rostov on a permanent deal at the start of 2016-17 season before Rubin bought him back in 2017.

Azmoun joined leaders of the Russian domestic league Zenit on a three-and-a-half-year deal in February 2019.