The Zira Herald
Squad11 Jan 2027
Qismət Alıyev damages knee ligaments — 42 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 42 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.
Match11 Jan 2027
Zira are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 43 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Aydın Bayramov keeps the receipts
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Zira may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Market11 Jan 2027
Zira sign Xəyal Fərzullayev for $200.0K
The paperwork is done: Xəyal Fərzullayev joins from Sumgayit in a deal worth $200.0K. Now comes the harder part.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Zira
Issa Djibrilla and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Zira rebuffed over Edvin Kuč
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Neftchi have kept their man, and Zira go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market11 Jan 2027
Kamran Abdullayev steps up from the Zira academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Kamran Abdullayev 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.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Brahim Konaté
“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.
Market11 Jan 2027
The Giorgi Papunashvili talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Zira know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
In brief
- The dugout Namiq Ələsgərov has become a man the manager trusts
- Squad A pay cut and a fresh start for Xəyal Fərzullayev
- The dugout Bryan Eyenga Lokilo has been promised minutes