Marked for Dimitrij Bayramov
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad31 Aug 2026
Kamran Sadygov damages knee ligaments — 24 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 24 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market31 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market31 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Inter can pretend not to have heard.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Inter
Dimitrij Bayramov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Inter training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Agil Sheydaev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Josip Krznarić
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Match29 Aug 2026
Inter and Khazar cancel each other out
Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Khazar came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 Aug 2026
Kamran Sadygov damages knee ligaments — 31 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 31 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market24 Aug 2026
Rufat Sadygov hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Inter can pretend not to have heard.
Squad24 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Inter this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market24 Aug 2026
Business is business: Rahid Sadygov goes
Khazar paid $170.0K and Inter took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Inter training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cəlal Hüseynov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match15 Aug 2026
Dimitrij Bayramov had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Sumgayit were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.71 for the rest of it.
Market17 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Inter have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Inter
Dimitrij Bayramov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Graduation day at Inter
2 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Market17 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Tamkin Jafarov has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market17 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Orkhan Huseynov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Agil Sheydaev, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Dimitrij Bayramov commits to Inter for another 4 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Inter
Dimitrij Bayramov was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Shahriyar Nazarov falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Market10 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Inter have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Market10 Aug 2026
Namig Sheydaev is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Inter has been clear about where Namig Sheydaev stands, which is more than many ever get.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
Inter say no — this time
The offer from Kapaz for Araz Madatov was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad3 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Inter this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Inter training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Cəlal Hüseynov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Shahriyar Ismayilov and Inter agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad3 Aug 2026
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Inter know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Market3 Aug 2026
Rufat Sadygov is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Inter has been clear about where Rufat Sadygov stands, which is more than many ever get.