Iran’s Jahanbakhsh set to join Genoa: Report
Iranian international midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh is closing in on a move to Serie A club Genoa, according to Varzesh3.
Jahanbakhsh, 31, has been without a team since leaving Dutch heavyweight Feyenoord in July but the Iranian website wrote the winger and his representatives were in Italy in recent days for negotiations with the Italian top-flight side.
The Iranian is now with the national team in Tashkent for a match against Uzbekistan in the World Cup Asian qualifiers on Thursday, followed by the home game against Qatar in Mashhad’s Imam Reza Stadium five days later.
Should Jahanbakhsh join Genoa he will become the second Iranian to move to the Italian top flight this season, following international teammate Mahdi Taremi, who signed for Inter Milan as a free agent from Porto in the summer.
Jahanbakhsh spent three seasons with Feyenoord, bagging 17 goals and 16 assists in 106 appearances across all competitions – including nine Eredivisie strikes.
First introduced to the European club football with Dutch club NEC Nijmegen in 2013, Jahanbakhsh enjoyed his most prolific spell with AZ Alkmaar between 2015 and 2018, where he contributed with 37 goals and 31 assists in 111 outings.
A stellar 2017/18 campaign, in which Jahanbakhsh finished as the league’s leading marksman with 21 strikes, saw the Iranian join Brighton & Hove Albion for a then-club record fee of €22.5 million.
His contribution for the Premier League outfit, however, was limited to four goals and two assists in 61 games, with 31 of those appearances coming in the starting XI.
Jahanbakhsh, who won the Eredivisie title with Feyenoord in 2023 before lifting the KNVB Cup the previous season, while finishing runner-up to AS Roma in the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League in 2022, will be looking to have a more impressive stint in another major European league with Genoa.
Genoa, which won promotion back to the top division in 2023, has endured a disappointing start to the new campaign as Alberto Gilardino’s side has managed one win in seven league games, sitting third from bottom in the table with five points.