When Alireza Jahanbakhsh, a pacy winger, who beats defenders with agility, capable of accurate and powerful shooting from distances, a player who was scoring goals at will, and recently being crown as the Highest Goalscorer of the Eredivisie elected to choose Brighton and Hove Albion, many eyebrows were raised.

Many Iranians fans had to Google Brighton, while others with more knowledge wondered what on earth attracted the promising Jahanbakhsh to a recently promoted club that will spend life in the top flight of the English League struggling not to be relegated!

Chris Houghton, then Brighton coach had a lot of faith in Jahanbakhsh and managed to convince the Team Melli winger to join his team even breaking the record of the club in transfer fee. He had plans for Jahanbakhsh, unfortunately, his faith did not survive the brutal reality of football as he was sacked.

It was always a question of survival for the seaside city team, which continued to struggle in the competitive  English Premier League.   In the late 1990s, Brighton was in the fourth tier of English football and were having financial difficulties. After narrowly avoiding relegation from the Football League to the Conference in 1997, some investors injected funds into the club and their fortune changed.

In the 2016–17 season, Brighton finished second in the EFL Championship and was thus promoted to the Premier League, ending a 34-year absence from the top flight. In the first 3 seasons, Brighton finished 15^th, 17^th, 15^th in the Premier League.

It is no wonder that the focus of the club was different from the more established teams.

To maintain its status and avoid relegation, the strategy was based on tight defenses with physically strong players who would run and run the way classic English football has been known for in the hope of not conceding goals.

Brighton under Graham Potter was operating under this strategy as pressures to maintain the EPL status simply reduced the chances of a player in the caliber and capabilities of Alireza Jahanbakhsh. As such Jahanbakhsh did not fit in the grand scheme of the Brighton project.

In Hindsight, Jahanbakhsh made a poor choice opting to move to a struggling club in England, and despite his denial, he must regret all the wasted time in England. Feyenoord Rotterdam is a completely different class and category of football teams. One of the most successful clubs in Dutch football. A team synonymous with championships (15 Eredivisie titles, 13 KNVB Cups, and 4 Johan Cruyff Shields) European Titles (one European Championship, two UEFA Cups), legendary players, and occupants of one of the largest stadiums in the Netherlands and Europe (The Stadion Feijenoord capacity 51,177)

The scene is set for return to glory to Alireza Jahanbakhsh at Feyenoord. A coach that has worked with him before, knows him and loves his style, a team that is always challenging for the Eredivisie title (3^rd, 3^rd and fourth in the last 3 seasons), and most importantly, Alireza will be operating at his most favorable position in the right-wing where his success was evident in AZ Alkmaar.

There is also a great opportunity to improve his style and prowess working under the legendary Robin van Persie who is the striker’s coach at the club.

This is completely a different setup than the modest struggling Brighton.

At the recently concluded FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifiers, Team Melli qualified with full marks with many remarkable performances from the players such as  Azmoun, Taremi, and Ghoddos amongst others. However, Jahanbakhsh was less than impressive.

Even the likes of Kaveh Rezaei and Ghaedi played well, that cannot be said of Jahanbakjsh where there always is a lot of expectation from him. Sitting on the bench at club level and away from competitive football has always affected professional players and Alireza is no exception. Playing in mighty Feyenoord is a breath of fresh air for the capable winger and exceptionally good news for Team Melli too if he keeps playing regularly. He needs to prove himself, of course, but that will probably take some time in order to acclimatize and gain some of the confidence he lost in England.

The confidence will be provided by the capable and caring head coach Arne Slot. The future looks bright, let us hope Alireza Jahanbakhsh takes this opportunity well.