Mojtaba Jabbari is officially out of Sepahan.

The creative midfield player of Sepahan and Team Melli has finally left the club according to Sepahan official.

Ali Torabian , who has been appointed as the acting CEO of the club due to resignations of Ali Rahimi from his post, said that the club was willing to take Jabbari back into the team despite his transgression, however after a series of meetings with the player , it was evident that the ex-Esteghlal player  does not wish to continue playing with Sepahan or remain in Esfahan. Torabian said that Jabbari is admitting his wrongdoing and gave the club the full right to file a case against him. “The player said that he will settle his financial status with the club and return the sign-on fees he received from the club or pay any penalties according to the rulings” according to Torabian who described the agreement between Sepahan club and Mojtaba Jabbari to separate , as amicable.

Despite what seems like an end of the episode, perhaps there are more to it than a simple handshake. Mojtaba Jabbari has joined Sepahan at the beginning of the season after he left his club Esteghlal following a series of unresolved differences.

This arrangement if true, means that Mojtaba Jabbari cannot play competitive football for another club until mid-season transfer window opens . Any club that wants the service of the Jabbari needs the approval of Sepahan. The Esfahani club will not be willing to easily give their direct competitors in the league an added advantage by signing Jabbari, the way Esteghlal admitted their fault after they released the same player.  In practical terms, this results in a  4 months of inaction for the midfield player. Assuming he gets a club after the mid-season transfer window , which no doubt is a formality, he needs much time to regain his form and physical condition especially that he has only recently recovered from injuries. That seems to be yet another piece of negative news for Team Melli in their preparation for the World Cup. Having an influential and creative midfielder in the caliber of Jabbari , out of action for that long, is a blow for Team Melli.

The bulk of the talented Team Melli’s players , are facing difficulties in one way or another. The legionnaires are all fringe players in Europe sometime not even on a substitute list like Ashkan Dejagah at Fulham and Reza Ghoochannejad at Standard Liege. The only lucky one is Masoud Shojae who eventually managed to find a club after several attempts. Masoud, who scored on his debut,  has playing time in a European league , although he earns his money down in the second division of the Spanish league. Even on the domestic scene, only a few of the Team Melli star players have shown quality performance in their games recently. The dip in form , lack of playing time all boils down to a tough task for Carlos Queiroz or whoever takes over for him in case Queiroz decides to call it a day with Iran.