22 Aug 2026
Saturday
Process
3 Edition

The Malavan Courier

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Behnam Barzay asks to leave Malavan

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Boardroom

Malavan go back to the board over Ali Eslami

The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $233.6K — a club that wants Ali Eslami enough to be asked twice.

Transfer targets

Ali Al Suwaidi turns down Malavan

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Al Ahli keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Ramin Jahanbakhsh

Malavan asked and Padideh said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Transfer targets

Malavan bid $200.0K for Ali Eslami

The offer went to Zob Ahan this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.

Squad

Tempers go at Malavan

Ghaem Eslamikhah was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

Malavan get the job done against Esteghlal Ahvaz

A 2‑0 win over Esteghlal Ahvaz, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Market

Sepahan join the queue for Alireza Ramezani

Add another name to the list: Sepahan have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Alireza Ramezani. The answer from Malavan has not changed — yet.

Squad

Mohammad Reza Ghobeishavi falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

In brief

Back issues
2 Edition

The Malavan Courier

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Transfer targets

The paperwork begins on Ali Al Suwaidi

A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Malavan have done the hard part with Al Ahli, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.

Squad

A falling-out at Malavan

Ghaem Eslamikhah and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Sina Khadempour signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sina Khadempour and Malavan agree another 3 years.

Match

Malavan come up short against Tractor

Tractor left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Words at Malavan training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jafar Salmani is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Market

Malavan promote Ali Cheshmi from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ali Cheshmi has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Market

Sardar Pouraliganji steps up from the Malavan academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Sardar Pouraliganji has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Market

Sardar Dejagah steps up from the Malavan academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Sardar Dejagah has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Market

Malavan promote Ali Karimi from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ali Karimi has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

In brief

1 Edition

The Malavan Courier

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Ghaem Eslamikhah signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ghaem Eslamikhah and Malavan agree another 3 years.

Boardroom

5 academy players handed senior numbers at Malavan

The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.

Squad

A row about effort at Malavan

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Ghaem Eslamikhah was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Words exchanged at Malavan

Hossein Sadeghi and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Market

Saba watching Parham Ghannad

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Malavan have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Market

One of our own: Ramin Noorafkan joins the Malavan first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ramin Noorafkan is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

Saeid Hosseini steps up from the Malavan academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Saeid Hosseini has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Market

One of our own: Amir Karimi joins the Malavan first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Amir Karimi is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Transfer targets

Malavan ask about Mohamed Hussain

A loan enquiry to Al Shaab: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

In brief

  • Transfer targets Malavan try to borrow Ali Al Suwaidi
  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
  • Boardroom No investment in the facilities at Malavan