Khabib receives CONTRACT OFFER from Russian football club asking UFC star to name his price after displaying goalscoring exploits

3 Jun, 2021 15:42 / Updated 3 years ago

Former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has been offered a contract by Russian lower-league outfit Legion Dynamo Makhachkala, after the star issued a ‘come-and-get-me’ plea by posting footage of himself scoring.

Uploading a clip for his near 29 million followers to enjoy on Instagram, the Dagestani star is shown making a diagonal run on the pitch and then pointing to where he would like his teammate to place a pass.

Rounding a flat-footed defender after meeting the ball, Khabib then slots home at an angle with his left foot and turns to the camera wagging an index finger in celebration. 

"Who remembers the Ronaldo of 2008, put on a bit of weight but still with firepower. [FC Legion Dynamo Makhachkala] I need motivation brothers," Khabib wrote in Russian in the caption, in turn tagging the Brazil icon and a local football team.

Yet while R9 replied with a string of clapping emojis but has not offered Khabib a trial at the Spanish club he owns in Real Valladolid, the Russian outfit Legion Dynamo have pulled out all the stops by offering the 29-0 brawler a contract.

According to journalist Ivan Karpov, who posted the news on his Telegram account, Legion Dynamo president Shamil Lakhiyalov is now merely waiting for the 32-year-old to put pen to paper.

The president himself posted a photo of the paperwork to Instagram, confirming it is a response to the video, and stated that the ball is in Khabib's court.

Interestingly, the space where the star's wages would be written has been left blank, presumably meaning Khabib can name his price. 

Legion Dynamo play in the Russian third-tier PFL, where they currently lie fourth in the table, having lost just one game of the 30 they've played all season thus far, but drawing 13 – indicating they could need a marksman of Khabib's caliber to make all the difference.  

The offer is the second such proposal Khabib has received since hanging up his gloves at UFC 254 last October after beating title challenger Justin Gaethje in convincing fashion.

Earlier this year, FC Kamaz also made an approach for the wrestling ace by saying: "We offer you to make your football debut as part of our team."

"PFL is the football UFC... we play every match only to win [and are] an ambitious team with the task of entering the FNL," it added. 

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Khabib obviously decided not to agree terms, and is still a free agent.

But in the past, a popular figure who counts R9's Portuguese namesake Cristiano Ronaldo among his friends has made no secret that becoming a footballer was his ambition as a youngster.

A die hard Real Madrid fan, who recently replied to a post by a popular football news site demanding Antonio Conte replace Zinedine Zidane as manager, before Carlo Ancelotti was announced, Khabib quipped in February: "I've loved football since childhood and have always dreamed of becoming a football player.

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"But I was born in Dagestan, and there, you yourself know what is the priority," Khabib continued, in a nod to the region's fame as a grappling hotbed.

"Who knows, maybe if Ronaldo was born in Dagestan, he would also become the UFC champion," he mused.