Esteghlal in talks with ex-Sevilla boss Flores: Report
Esteghlal is in talks with former Sevilla and Athletico Madrid manager Quique Sanchez Flores for the permanent role on the Persian Gulf Pro League club’s bench, Iranian website Football 360 reported on Thursday.
Esteghlal great Mojtaba Jabbari has been serving as the interim coach since the club parted ways with Montenegrin Miodrag Bozovic in April, with the Tehran Blues eager to hire a high-profile foreign manager for the start of the next season.
Jabbari became the sixth Esteghlal coach in a dreadful campaign, which has seen the club finish ninth in the Iranian top-flight’s 16-team table, though the Blues could still put a lid on their misery with the Hazfi Cup silverware.
Esteghlal will host second-tier side San’at Naft Abadan in the last-four round of the domestic cup at the Azadi Stadium today.
A winner of four Pro League titles since its introduction in 2001, Esteghlal has also approached former Sepahan boss José Morais, Portuguese Ricardo Sá Pinto, who was the Blues manager in the 2022/23 season, as well as Dutch coach Frank de Boer, and Italian Walter Mazzarri in recent weeks, according to the report, but the negotiations fell through for different reasons.
Should Flores join Esteghlal, he will be among the most prominent managers to work in the Iranian club football in recent years.
A Valencia and Benfica boss in the 2000s, the 60-year-old Spaniard was in charge of Atletico Madrid when Los Rojiblancos lifted the UEFA Europa League and Super Cup in 2010.
Flores, who was the head coach of Premier League club Watford over two spells, is familiar with working in the Middle East, having enjoyed decent spells at Emirati clubs Al Ahli and Al Ain from 2011 to 2014.
His last job was at Sevilla FC in the second half of the 2023/24 season, when he led the Andalusian side to eight wins in 22 outings and a 14th-place finish in the LaLiga table.