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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Persepolis know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Harold Gómez trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Marko Bakić will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Persepolis the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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 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.
Marked 8.60 — 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.
It needed Mohammad Hossein Zavari to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Esteghlal, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Persepolis know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mohammed Reza Azadi. 1‑0 against Rah Ahan, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Marked 8.04 — 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.
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.
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.
“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 16 appearances in 30 say he has earned the hearing.
Shots: 15. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
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.
“I watch every Persepolis game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Zamalek runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Persepolis know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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.
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.
“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.
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.
Marked 8.97 — 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.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Oscar Murillo will call it something else in private.
“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.
5 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 22 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Add another name to the list: Gostaresh Foulad have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Marko Bakić. The answer from Persepolis has not changed — yet.
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.
The name of Mohammad Hossein Sadeghi has come up in conversations Persepolis were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Persepolis has been clear about where Parham Movaghari stands, which is more than many ever get.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Persepolis will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
The offer from Tractor for Hossein Abarghouei 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.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Persepolis has been clear about where Mohammad Amin Kazemian stands, which is more than many ever get.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Marked 8.72 — 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.
“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.
Marked 10.00 — 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.
Marked 9.01 — 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 30 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
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.
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.
Oscar Murillo 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.
“I did not go to Esteghlal Khuzestan to sit and watch. I want to come back to Persepolis and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 18 matches say the rest.
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.
Marked 8.86 — 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.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Morteza Pouraliganji trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every debut is a small story about the future: Amir Hossein Mahmoudi, 21 years old, off the academy pitches and into the first team. The parents in the stand will keep the programme.
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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Mojtaba Fakhrian and Persepolis agree another 4 years.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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 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.
“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 4 appearances in 14 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
Marked 8.67 — 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.
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.
In brief
BoardroomThe Persepolis production line keeps running
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.
Position 3, 18 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.
Ahmed Hassan 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.
0‑3 against Esteghlal Khuzestan, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
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.
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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 20 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
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.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Zob Ahan defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Omid Alishah trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Persepolis know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Persepolis opened the door and nobody walked through it. So Mohammad Amin Kazemian stays — listed, trained, and available — while both sides mark the days to January on the same calendar.
A 2‑1 win over Gostaresh Foulad, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
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.
Add another name to the list: Padideh have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Alireza Homaeifard. The answer from Persepolis has not changed — yet.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 31 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
The chase for Emmanuel Akpan ended with $1.6M changing hands and Bendel Insurance out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
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.
“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.
Marked 9.47 — 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.
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.
Add another name to the list: Padideh have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Mohammad Hossein Sadeghi. The answer from Persepolis has not changed — yet.
Marked 8.72 — 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.
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.
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.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Ali Khodadad is a Persepolis player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
“I will know when it is time. I am not there yet.” Davoud Noushi Soufiani is 37, with 4 appearances behind him, and Persepolis will have to plan for whichever answer comes.
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.
“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.
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.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Persepolis has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
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.
The phone has started ringing about Mohammad Hossein Sadeghi again, and this time the name on the line is Saipa. Persepolis are listening politely and promising nothing.
Ahmed Hassan 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.
36 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
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.
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.
Kaveh Beiranvand is 34 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
“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.
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.
Saipa paid $350.0K and Persepolis took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Esteghlal paid $290.0K and Persepolis took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
“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 Mohammad Hossein Zavari ended with $2.0M changing hands and Esteghlal Khuzestan out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
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.
Qualification is done, and next season the floodlights come on for something bigger. A stage for the players, oxygen for the accounts and a passport for everybody else.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Persepolis have had the benefit of it.
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.
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 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 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.
Oscar Murillo 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 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
SquadSoroush Rafiei is training like a man with a point to make
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.
“I watch every Persepolis game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Padideh runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
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 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.
“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 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 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.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Persepolis that is a harder question to answer.
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 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Milad Sarlak trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Oscar Murillo 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 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.
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.
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.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Persepolis has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 21 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Oston O'runov. 1‑0 against Esteghlal, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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.
Marked 8.15 — 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.
Milad Mohammadi 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Hossein Kanaani. 1‑0 against Esteghlal Ahvaz, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Tractor defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 28 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
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.
Marked 8.20 — 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.
The offer from Esteghlal Ahvaz for Mohammad Hossein Sadeghi 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.
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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 22 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
The phone has started ringing about Alireza Enayatzadeh again, and this time the name on the line is Zob Ahan. Persepolis are listening politely and promising nothing.
The offer from Esteghlal Ahvaz 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.
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.
Tractor paid $430.0K and Persepolis took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
It needed Ali Alipour to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Esteghlal Khuzestan, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
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.
The name of Mohammad Hossein Sadeghi has come up in conversations Persepolis were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
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.
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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Marked 8.81 — 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.
“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 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.
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.
Oscar Murillo 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.
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. Persepolis have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
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.
“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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
245% of the income goes out in wages at Persepolis
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Marked 8.44 — 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.
Position 3, 31 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.
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.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
245% of the income goes out in wages at Persepolis
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Mohammed Reza Azadi 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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 17 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Hossein Kanaani. 2‑1 against Esteghlal Ahvaz, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Amir Reza Rafiei knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
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.
Marked 9.14 — 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.
“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 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.
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
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.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Igor Sergeev. 2‑0 against Padideh, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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 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.
Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.
Oscar Murillo 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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
412% of the income goes out in wages at Persepolis
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Marked 8.30 — 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.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. Zob Ahan moved on, Amir Reza Rafiei reports back to Persepolis, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
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.
Marked 8.25 — 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.
The chase for Mohammed Reza Azadi ended with $1.2M changing hands and Esteghlal out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
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.
Marked 9.00 — 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.
Add another name to the list: Malavan have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Mohammad Hossein Sadeghi. The answer from Persepolis has not changed — yet.
Marked 8.27 — 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.
The chase for Parham Movaghari ended with $1.4M changing hands and Malavan out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
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.
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.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Reza Shekari. 1‑0 against Gostaresh Foulad, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 19 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
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.
Marked 8.91 — 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.
Add another name to the list: Padideh have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Farzin Moamelegari. The answer from Persepolis has not changed — yet.
“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 Omid Alishah.
Still no offer on the table, and Igor Sergeev’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.