The Georgian is recovering and aims to get playing time between now and the final of the championship. The future hangs in the balance
“I’m better, I hope to start training with the team and be back soon”. These are the words released by Saba Sazonov last May 2nd on the occasion of the presentation of the celebratory shirts for the 75th anniversary of Superga that Torino would then wear in the match against Bologna. Event held at the JD Store in Le Gru in the company of his companions Djdiji and Gineitis, all three struggling with their respective physical problems. Saba Sazonov does not appear in Ivan Juric’s squad for the match against Frosinone. The Georgian, in the coach’s words, would be one of the victims of the training ground: “Sazonov has tendon problems, the Fila pitch is a bit hard and it’s a problem for many.”. Now after the other two absences with Inter and Bologna, Sazonov could return among the players available to Ivan Juric in view of the last seasonal outings with Hellas Verona, Milan and Atalanta.
Sazonov, his season
“I played twelve matches, I played against Roma, Inter, Lazio. For the first year I think it was good, I had some good games. I can do better but for now it’s okay.”, Saba Sazonov commented on his first season in the granata shirt. The Georgian has competed so far 12 races of championship. He collected the first 63 of the 348 minutes collected so far at the Olimpico in Rome as a replacement for Alessandro Buongiorno, who was forced off in the 27th minute of the match against Lazio due to physical problems. His first client he faced in Serie A was therefore Ciro Immobile. Despite some trouble, the Georgian managed to get a pass and a starting shirt in the following match against Hellas Verona, where this time he was the one who had to leave the field in the 27th minute to injury. Sazonov takes a stomp and leaves the pitch in tears. He then sees himself again for another absence to be made up for during the match in progress, against Inter: that of Perr Schuurs. A complicated match for Sazonov and his team in the 0-3 in favor of the now Italian champions. Sazonov proves to be still too immature a player.
Between the rescue of Cagliari and the blackout in Rome
From that moment on only on the bench until the match on 7 January 2024. Sazonov played 14 minutes in the 3-0 against Napoli, 6′ in Genoa and 12′ in Cagliari. Perhaps precisely in this latest release, that of the Unipol Domus, he manages to go beyond sufficiency. Here he was sent onto the field in the 32nd minute to replace Sanabria, to lend support to the Granata rearguard following the goal of the Sardinians’ hope with Viola. His intervention in the last action of the match ahead of Wieteska a few steps from the goal line was a saving grace. The following time against Salernitana, thanks to repeated absences, he then took his second starting shirt of the season. A match in which Sazonov does not suffer, despite showing some limitations in the setup phase, which generates more than a few shivers in those present at the Grande Torino. From that moment on Juric gave him the pitch in bits and pieces. 7 minutes in Sassuolo, zero between Lecce and Lazio, until 76′ with the Rome by De Rossi. Negative match against the Giallorossi for Sazonov. It was he who gave away the penalty for the momentary 1-0 with an all too impetuous stomp on Azmoun, after coming on in the first half in place of the injured Matteo Lovato. 24 minutes then against Fiorentina, Napoli and Udinese. A warning against the Friulians after having won the European pass with Georgia as an observer, before the three consecutive benches and the injury.
Sazonov, the future
“Of course I want to play more. All the players want to play more and be starters. I hope I can be available for the last three games.”, Sazonov said at the meeting with the media in the week leading up to Superga. In the last three matches, therefore, there could be an opportunity to show off, also to change personal fortunes which at the moment would see him in the balance within the Granata squad. “I don’t know the future now, everything will depend on how things evolve”. It is clear, however, that Sazonov is still too raw a player to be among the starters and for the current phase of his career nothing would help him like finding greater continuity on the pitch. The Bull will therefore have to decide whether to believe in the investment of almost three million euros or focus on another profile.
