Persepolis closing in on ex-Asian player of the year Hassan: Report
Sports Desk
Persian Gulf Pro League champion is set to sign Qatari fullback Abdelkarim Hassan on a season-and-a-half long contract – for a reported fee of $750,000 – according to the media in Iran.
An Asian Player of the Year in 2018, Hassan won four Qatari top-flight titles as well as the 2011 AFC Champions League crown with Al Saad before parting ways with the club in controversial manner to join Kuwaiti side Al Jahra in January last year.
Hassan, 30, has 11 goals and assists apiece in 101 appearances for the national team, the last of which came against the Netherlands at the 2022 World Cup group stage.
The left fullback played an integral role in helping Qatar lift a maiden AFC Asian Cup trophy in 2019 in the United Arab Emirates, where he was named in the team of the tournament.
Hassan was handed an indefinite suspension by the Qatar Football Association last January, while having his Al Saad contract terminated, following a social media altercation with a fan.
Hassan responded to a complaint on SnapChat about Qatar’s World Cup group exit on home soil by posting: “Relax, do you think it’s war?”
Hassan is to arrive in Tehran on Monday to sign the contract with Persepolis, which is desperately looking for a new head coach after Yahya Golmohammadi stepped down from his role in the aftermath of 1-1 draw against Mes Rafsanjan in the league on the first of the new year.
Oman head coach Branko Ivankovic was approached to make a dramatic return to the Reds bench, once his Asian Cup campaign comes to an end in Qatar, but the Croatian, who won three league titles with Persepolis before leaving the club in 2019, on Thursday turned down the offer due to “personal and family” reasons.
Persepolis is third in the Iranian league tables with 30 points after 15 rounds of matches – two points adrift of archrival Esteghlal on top.