Vouria Beiranvand 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dániel Gera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Marko Bakić has his answer from Persepolis; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
29 appearances at Gostaresh Foulad and the goals have stopped going in. Persepolis lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Masoud Zayer Kazemayn is on it.
In brief
The dugoutReza Shekari knocks on the manager’s door
Position 6 on 50 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persepolis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Masoud Zayer Kazemayn. 1‑0 against Esteghlal, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad28 Feb 2028
Dániel Gera 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.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Persepolis they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Igor Sergeev 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.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Mohammad Khodabandelou has his answer from Persepolis; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
0‑1 to Rah Ahan, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad21 Feb 2028
Dániel Gera 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Persepolis, and 1 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
The offer from Malavan for Mojtaba Fakhrian was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Persepolis is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Marko Bakić has agreed terms with Esteghlal for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persepolis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Persepolis asked and Zob Ahan said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Oston O'runov, and the manager let it.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Persepolis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dániel Gera 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.
Persepolis offered $10.0M; Esteghlal said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
15 goals and a season average of 7.45. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Boardroom7 Feb 2028
Deadline passes with 1 signed and 6 gone
That is the business done at Persepolis until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Persepolis asked and Esteghlal said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Boca Juniors keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Aram Abbasi has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Persepolis have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
Squad7 Feb 2028
Dániel Gera 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.
Player ratings7 Feb 2028
Oston O'runov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.20. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Persepolis have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The offer went to Esteghlal 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.
The offer from Sepahan for Marko Bakić was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Al Ahli had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.95 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Foolad is saying, and nobody at Persepolis is enjoying the guessing.
Igor Sergeev 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.
The deal with Foolad is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Vouria Beiranvand 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.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Mohammad Khodabandelou is a Persepolis player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
$25.0K was the most the club would pay and Zob Ahan were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
A 2‑1 win over Esteghlal Khuzestan, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The phone has started ringing about Abolfazl Babaei Yekta again, and this time the name on the line is Padideh. Persepolis are listening politely and promising nothing.
In brief
SquadDániel Gera falls out with a teammate over standards
Player ratingsVouria Beiranvand was on a different afternoon to everybody else
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Tractor waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Persepolis is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The offer from Tractor for Mohammad Mehdi Mohebi was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.47 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
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.
In brief
MatchOston O'runov among the goals in a wild afternoon
The offer from Esteghlal for Mohammad Khodabandelou was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
At 34 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.92 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.78 for the rest of it.
6 goals in one match, Mohammad Khodabandelou on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Persepolis and Zob Ahan.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persepolis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dániel Gera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Ahmad Karimi on a 3‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Igor Sergeev 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.
4 matches, two or more conceded in every one of them. Sides that create as much as this can live with it for a while. Nobody lives with it forever.
Squad20 Dec 2027
Dániel Gera 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ahmad Karimi after 2‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
The dugoutOston O'runov has become a man the manager trusts
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Dániel Gera 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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Successful dribbles: 13. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Omid Alishah is on it.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Malavan in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Saipa go through and Persepolis go home, 1‑3 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Oston O'runov, and the manager let it.
Squad6 Dec 2027
Words at Persepolis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dániel Gera 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.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Vouria Beiranvand had Persepolis level again within 2 minutes, and Foolad never got to play with a lead at all.
Gostaresh Foulad will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Persepolis were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Two goals and a mark of 9.34 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Vouria Beiranvand 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dániel Gera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Ahmad Karimi on a 3‑0 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Mohammad Hossein Eslami is on it.
Successful dribbles: 26. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
7.83, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Igor Sergeev 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.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Dániel Gera 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.
Conceding is one thing; the response is what tells you about a dressing room. Mohammad Khodabandelou had Persepolis level again within 3 minutes, and Siah Jamegan never got to play with a lead at all.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Igor Sergeev 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dániel Gera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Half the programme played, position 5, 27 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Boardroom15 Nov 2027
Nobody left the Persepolis dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ahmad Karimi after 0‑5, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
Squad4 Persepolis players away with their countries
Successful dribbles: 22. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Persepolis will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dániel Gera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Persepolis, another week without a signature from Danial Eiri.
In brief
The dugoutThe view from the dugout
Squad5 new faces, and Persepolis are still learning each other
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Persepolis will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persepolis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
3 away wins in a row. Travelling support is the truest kind, and this season it is being repaid in the only currency that counts.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Dániel Gera 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.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Persepolis, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad25 Oct 2027
Dániel Gera 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persepolis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nobody at Persepolis will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Ahmad Karimi chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
The dugout25 Oct 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Saeed Amiri's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
Two goals and a mark of 8.65 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Igor Sergeev 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Persepolis and Saipa, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
The fixture the rest of the division is looking forward to more than either of the sides in it. Both know a win changes the season and a defeat does not end it, which is what makes it hard to play.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Dániel Gera 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.
Successful dribbles: 34. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
There were 88 minutes on the clock and Naft Tehran had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Persepolis did not stop to explain themselves.
Vouria Beiranvand 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.
Three points for Persepolis, 3‑2 the final word against Naft Tehran in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings11 Oct 2027
Oston O'runov was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.34. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Persepolis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dániel Gera 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.
Esteghlal Khuzestan will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Persepolis were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 18 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Vouria Beiranvand provided it, and the 8.25 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.24 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persepolis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Esteghlal Khuzestan spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
In brief
SquadDániel Gera falls out with a teammate over standards
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Persepolis will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.87 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Igor Sergeev 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.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Persepolis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dániel Gera 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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Persepolis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Dinamo Moscow is saying, and nobody at Persepolis is enjoying the guessing.
Igor Sergeev 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.
The shirt still fits. Ali Nemati is back at Persepolis, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dániel Gera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.29 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Duckens Nazon had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Saba were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Persepolis will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Palmeiras keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Persepolis have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Persepolis will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Masoud Zayer Kazemayn provided it, and the 8.73 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
A brace, and Omid Alishah takes the afternoon — 8.19
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Omid Alishah provided it, and the 8.19 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 16 arrived, 13 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Persepolis had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Krasnodar, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
The offer went to Foolad 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.
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Persepolis and Saba, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Persepolis will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Persepolis had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Al Ain, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Saleh Hardani 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.
The shirt still fits. Sina Asadbeigi is back at Persepolis, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Persepolis asked and Foolad said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dániel Gera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Persepolis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Persepolis have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Persepolis had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Dinamo Moscow, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persepolis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Persepolis have gone to Foolad with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Persepolis will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The offer from Zob Ahan for Igor Sergeev was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Vouria Beiranvand 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.
Persepolis offered $280.0K; Malavan said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Persepolis will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Two goals and a mark of 9.05 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Add another name to the list: Zob Ahan have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Igor Sergeev. The answer from Persepolis has not changed — yet.
The deal with Dinamo Moscow is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Al-Hilal keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Vouria Beiranvand 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.
Persepolis asked and Al Ain said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 84 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The board have signed the man in the dugout to a longer contract, which says more than any statement of support. Stability is easy to promise and costly to keep.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Al Ain is saying, and nobody at Persepolis is enjoying the guessing.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Pejman Gholizadeh 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Alireza Dejagah is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Persepolis will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Persepolis have done the hard part with Al-Hilal, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Al-Hilal keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Igor Sergeev 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Dániel Gera 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Krasnodar have kept their man, and Persepolis go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Persepolis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
The dugoutOston O'runov has become a man the manager trusts
Persepolis had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Krasnodar, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dániel Gera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
7 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
The fee is $860.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Foolad drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: PSV keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persepolis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al Wahda have kept their man, and Persepolis go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets5 Jul 2027
$860.0K settles it between the clubs for Alireza Nazi
Foolad have accepted the money. What Persepolis do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Persepolis, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with PSV is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Persepolis had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at KAA Gent, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dániel Gera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
27 games, 18 goals, and a squad option that has arrived without a fee attached. The interesting question at Persepolis now is not whether he plays but who he displaces.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Soroush Rafiei
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Persepolis people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Al-Hilal is saying, and nobody at Persepolis is enjoying the guessing.
Igor Sergeev 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.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Dániel Gera 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Hilal have kept their man, and Persepolis go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Lucas Olaza is in the works
15 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persepolis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Krasnodar is saying, and nobody at Persepolis is enjoying the guessing.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Persepolis know which stage they are at.
Persepolis have made the call to Al-Hilal. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The words a physio says slowly. 22 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Persepolis can pretend not to have heard.
He is going to Sepahan, the club has $2.3M it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sepahan have kept their man, and Persepolis go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Esteghlal did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $900.0K for Saleh Hardani, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
18 goals in 27 games at Malavan — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Persepolis updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The deal with KAA Gent is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
29 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Persepolis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Persepolis people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The clubs have shaken hands with Esteghlal; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Persepolis have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Igor Sergeev 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.
$35.0K on the table at Zob Ahan. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
36 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persepolis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Igor Sergeev 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.
3 appearances and 1 goals is not a season away, it is a year lost. He is back at Persepolis no further forward, and everybody involved will explain why it was not their fault.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Mohammad Omri is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dániel Gera signs something — a contract at Persepolis or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Sharpest man there all week, by every account. It is the quietest line on this page and it usually runs the week before somebody’s run in the side begins.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Saeed Amiri
43 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Persepolis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Igor Sergeev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Persepolis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dániel Gera 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Persepolis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Persepolis will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Position 5 on 58 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Persepolis. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
27 appearances away from home and 18 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Persepolis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dániel Gera 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persepolis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Soheil Sahraei trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The word out of the training ground is that he has been the sharpest man there all week. It is the quietest story a paper carries and it usually runs the week before somebody's run in the side begins.
Igor Sergeev 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Payam Niazmand signs something — a contract at Persepolis or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
In brief
BoardroomThe Persepolis board put their names to it
Igor Sergeev 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dániel Gera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Persepolis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dániel Gera signs something — a contract at Persepolis or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dániel Gera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Persepolis will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Position 5, 58 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Marko Bakić has written the date down.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Persepolis, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Persepolis will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mohammad Mehdi Mohebi signs something — a contract at Persepolis or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Majid Azmoun has written the date down.
Igor Sergeev 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at Persepolis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dániel Gera 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.
Nobody at Persepolis will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Igor Sergeev 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.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Persepolis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dániel Gera 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Hossein Nekounam is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Kaveh Rezaeian 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Alireza Nekounam 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.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Mohammad Ebrahimi 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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Abolfazl Babaei Yekta is on it.
Dániel Gera 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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Mohammad Hossein Eslami is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Hossein Kanaani signs something — a contract at Persepolis or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Position 5 on 58 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Persepolis will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Igor Sergeev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Dániel Gera 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.
With 6 players away on international duty the sessions are small and the manager can actually hear himself. It is the one break in the season, and it never quite feels like one.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” IFK Goteborg had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Igor Sergeev 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dániel Gera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Igor Sergeev 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.
Everyone has stopped pretending: IF Elfsborg will make the call about Duckens Nazon this week. Persepolis have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Payam Niazmand signs something — a contract at Persepolis or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Abolfazl Babaei Yekta is on it.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Persepolis have no good answer.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persepolis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Persepolis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hossein Abarghouei 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.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Mohammad Hossein Eslami is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Hossein Kanaani signs something — a contract at Persepolis or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
58 points from position 5. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Persepolis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Position 5 on 58 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
Igor Sergeev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Dániel Gera 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 24 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Duckens Nazon had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Igor Sergeev 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.
He is 22 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Successful dribbles: 19. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Olympiacos is saying, and nobody at Persepolis is enjoying the guessing.
It finished 3‑2, and it was Mohammad Khodabandelou’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Persepolis.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Dániel Gera 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.
Duckens Nazon 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Olympiacos have kept their man, and Persepolis go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Persepolis have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The clubs have shaken hands with Sepahan; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Persepolis close the window on a squad of their own making
1 in and 4 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Krasnodar keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persepolis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
SquadWords at Persepolis training over how hard people work
The words a physio says slowly. 17 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Esteghlal moved on, Ali Alipour reports back to Persepolis, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.16 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Persepolis had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Al-Hilal, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
24 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Persepolis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Naft Tehran will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Persepolis were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Persepolis can pretend not to have heard.
Position 3, 51 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.74 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
Everything agreed with Olympiacos, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
32 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persepolis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings11 Jan 2027
A brace, and Ali Alipour takes the afternoon — 9.22
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ali Alipour provided it, and the 9.22 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The offer from Tractor for Soheil Sahraei was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Igor Sergeev 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.
The name of Mohammad Omri has come up in conversations Persepolis were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
39 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persepolis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.31 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persepolis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
16 goals in 20 games at Malavan — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Persepolis updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Gostaresh Foulad have kept their man, and Persepolis go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Hossein Kanaani has his answer from Persepolis; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
47 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persepolis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
19 appearances at Malavan and the goals keep coming. Persepolis are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words at Persepolis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dániel Gera 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Thievy Bifouma, and the manager let it.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Ahmad Karimi chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Zob Ahan? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
In brief
The dugoutMohammad Omri has become a man the manager trusts
54 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persepolis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.80 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dániel Gera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Duckens Nazon 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.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Reza Shekari was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.35. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The words a physio says slowly. 61 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.76 for the rest of it.
Igor Sergeev 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.
68 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persepolis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Payam Niazmand: 2 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Malavan go through and Persepolis go home, 2‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
It is a specific kind of quiet, a ground watching a winning position dissolve. Malavan kept coming because nothing stopped them, and Persepolis will be asked about the last half hour all week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persepolis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
76 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persepolis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Igor Sergeev and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Persepolis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hossein Abarghouei 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.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
In brief
The dugoutMarko Bakić asks for a word with the manager
Player ratingsThe one thing Ali Alipour could not do
85 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Persepolis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Ali Alipour had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Gostaresh Foulad were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Igor Sergeev 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.
Marked 8.08 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Boardroom23 Nov 2026
Nobody left the Persepolis dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The words a physio says slowly. 92 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Igor Sergeev 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Persepolis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dániel Gera 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.
The words a physio says slowly. 99 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.65 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persepolis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dániel Gera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Ashkan Khodadad 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Kaveh Khodadad 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.
Successful dribbles: 43. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Omid Alishah damages knee ligaments — 106 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 106 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persepolis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ahmad Karimi after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Duckens Nazon is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
115 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Persepolis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Two goals and a mark of 9.23 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Igor Sergeev 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dániel Gera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Duckens Nazon. 3‑1 against Esteghlal Ahvaz, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
At 20 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
122 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Persepolis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Mohammad Khodabandelou scored, was marked 7.77, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
The first defeat in 9 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Tractor; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.
Igor Sergeev 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hossein Abarghouei was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Omid Alishah damages knee ligaments — 130 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 130 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
9 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Two goals and a mark of 8.20 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Position 3, 25 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.
Successful dribbles: 27. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persepolis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
139 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Persepolis lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
8 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dániel Gera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
Player ratingsDuckens Nazon was on a different afternoon to everybody else
BoardroomWages eat 102% of everything Persepolis earn
147 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Persepolis lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
7 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Successful dribbles: 28. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.99 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Igor Sergeev 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.
There is a particular helplessness in conceding 2 times before the twentieth minute. Esteghlal Khuzestan tried to reorganise, Persepolis did not allow it, and the result was written long before it was confirmed.
Omid Alishah damages knee ligaments — 154 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 154 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
A brace, and Igor Sergeev takes the afternoon — 9.16
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Igor Sergeev provided it, and the 9.16 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Successful dribbles: 29. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Hossein Kanaani 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.
100 for the club now, each one filed in somebody’s memory with a date and a scoreline. Numbers like this are what supporters argue about in twenty years.
Padideh made Persepolis work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Ali Alipour was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.22. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.57 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The bid was some way short and Persepolis did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Dániel Gera 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Omid Alishah. 2‑0 against Zob Ahan, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is exactly one of these per career and it does not usually go like this. 0 on the scoresheet, 7.42 beside the name, and a crowd that had never seen him before chanting it by the end.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.03 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The offer from Sepahan for Soheil Sahraei was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Persepolis can pretend not to have heard.
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $1.4M has been paid because Duckens Nazon is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 18 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Successful dribbles: 32. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A brace, and Ali Alipour takes the afternoon — 8.80
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Ali Alipour provided it, and the 8.80 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Persepolis can pretend not to have heard.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.81 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Al Wasl is saying, and nobody at Persepolis is enjoying the guessing.
Igor Sergeev 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Persepolis can pretend not to have heard.
The chase for Majid Azmoun ended with $2.0M changing hands and Padideh out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
$1.4M on the table at Esteghlal. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Igor Sergeev 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.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
Persepolis spend $3.6M on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $3.6M for Mohammad Hossein Eslami, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Persepolis training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dániel Gera 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Hajduk Split have kept their man, and Persepolis go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Persepolis have done the hard part with Esteghlal, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The name of Mohammad Hossein Momeni has come up in conversations Persepolis were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persepolis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Persepolis asked and Shakhtar said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hossein Abarghouei was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Successful dribbles: 41. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Gostaresh Foulad the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Persepolis will enjoy reviewing.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Padideh have kept their man, and Persepolis go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Al Wasl is saying, and nobody at Persepolis is enjoying the guessing.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mohammad Hossein Momeni and Persepolis agree another 4 years.
Hossein Kanaani 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Sardar Hosseini is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Hossein Torabi 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.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.13 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Persepolis this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom3 Aug 2026
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Persepolis
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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dániel Gera was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Hilal have kept their man, and Persepolis go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ali Azmoun 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.