Tag: Alkmaar

Alireza Jahanbakhsh status in Brighton in jeopardy.

For the second match in a row, Alireza Jahanbakhsh did not make the 18 man squad for Brighton & Hove Albion match against  West Ham. Jahanbakhsh was left out of the team for the first match of the new Premier League season away to Watford which Brighton won 3-0, and then he was again omitted from the squad for the home game against West Ham which ended in a draw 1-1.

It seems that the Seagulls’ coach Graham Potter has little belief in the ability of the Team Melli winger to produce the goods in the Premier League. After a difficult season last year marred by injury and absence from Brighton team for the AFC Asian Cup, Jahanbakhash failed to sparkle despite his record signing from Alkmaar. The top scorer of the Dutch League failed to score a single goal for Brighton.

Despite his failure to score, the former Brighton coach had a lot of confidence in Jahanbakhsh as’s abilities and skill as he was on the top of Houghton’s pecking order upfront.  However, Houghton was using Jahanbakhash in the role of a wingback rather than a forward. The Iranian had to be available to defend when the team was under attack. That was one of the reasons, but certainly not THE reason, for his lack of scoring. Statistics of last season shows that Jahanbakhsh was not getting much goal scoring opportunity but was used more as a provider on the flanks.

Whatever the case was for last season disappointing performance, Jahanbakhsh’s chances to be part of the Brighton lineup seems to be quite slim and him lasting in the club, to be in doubt. The Transfer window in Europe is still open until 2nd September. One way out of this situation is for Brighton to seek a buyer for Jahanbakhsh. Rumours of the Iranian returning back to the Eredivisie with his former club started a couple of weeks back but it seems to have died down quite quickly.

Jahanbakhsh himself remains hopeful to return back to form to gain the confidence of Graham Potter. With the fine performance of the current squad, the competition for places in the team is quite tough. Jahanbakhsh really needs to work extra hard to convince the boss of his value else his future in Brighton and the premier league is in jeopardy

Is Jahanbakhsh the next one that generates AZ millions?

With a hat-trick in his most recent game against Vitesse, Alireza Jahanbakhsh (24) not only took a giant step to the top scorer title. The Iranian is increasingly launching itself as one of the hottest transfer objects of the premier league this summer.

By Nik Kok

That is also the view of technical director Max Huiberts of AZ. In Alkmaar, the telephone does not ring for his star, but the list of foreign scouts that attends matches of the proud cup finalist rises almost every home gamel. “I would prefer Alireza to stay with us for a very long time,” says Huiberts, as does trainer John van den Brom, who voiced that desire shortly after the game against Vitesse. “I hope we can still enjoy him for a long time to enjoy.”

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If I were an interested club, I would also do business before the World Cup

Max Huiberts

But at AZ they also know well that scoring wingers like Jahanbakhsh are extremely popular. “A good winger in the league scores, in my opinion , between eight to twelve goals in a season and delivers about as many assists. Alireza is already at eighteen goals. That is really unprecedented. More than Lozano, for example, but also more than the wingers of Ajax. ”

Anyone who wants to do business at AZ next summer does not have to argue in Alkmaar that an AZ player should cost less than that of a traditional top club. If you argue that way I would say that it should be more, because here at AZ he is already able to score more than the players of those clubs. “

Who knows, there is a transfer à la Vincent Janssen ahead of Jahanbakhsh. He transfered from AZ to Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2016 for more than twenty million euros. Janssen failed in London but Huiberts suspects that a transfer from Jahanbakhsh will not play any part. “Even if you had to ask those foreign clubs. Of course, I do not know exactly how they think. And I honestly do not worry too much about that. Alireza has a contract with us until the summer of 2020. “

Next summer

What may also play a part later are the performances of Jahanbakhsh at the World Cup next summer. He plays with his country Iran against, among others, Iniesta and Ronaldo. Iran is a with Spain and Portugal (and Morocco) and knows that he will be watched by the whole world in the coming summer. ” If I was an interested club, I would also do business before the World Cup “, says Huiberts with a smile.

The category of clubs that will be attractive for Jahanbakhsh will not be scared for its non-EU salary. In recent months he hinted to prefer the Bundesliga, where many of his countrymen caused a furore. It was because of Ali Daei and Vahid Hashemian that the little Jahanbakhsh once started playing football. The club that later will give him a footballer in return will be loved in the players group and adapts quickly. “Alireza comes from a completely different culture, but he has proven that he can keep his position in Europe”, says Huiberts, “But do not be fooled, he is no longer that likeable boy in the field. Her is there to win.”