Highest paid Iranian footballers in European Leagues

June 26, 2017

Independent aggregator of Iran-related News/Events, Kodoom.com: Several Iranian football prodigies playing for Europe's professional football clubs have amazed fans and observers with their stellar performance. In February, Greece's Olympiacos defeated Turkey's Osmanlıspor and advanced to UEFA Europa League Round of 16 with 2 goals scored by Iranian striker Karim Ansarifard. After the match, fans of UEFA voted for Ansarifard as player of the week. Ansarifard, with a 1.5 million euro contract, is among Greece's highest paid athletes but certainly not the highest paid Iranian expatriate footballer.

Ansarifard (right)

Sardar Azmoun, is one of Russia's youngest and highest paid professional athletes. Paid 11 million euro by Russia's Rostov, Azmoun helped the team advance to UEFA Europa League Round of 16. Saeed Ezatollahi, another expatriate Iranian was signed on by Rostov for 1.2 million euros.

Sardar Azmoun (right)

Another Iranian footballer playing in Eredivisie (Honorary Division, the highest echelon of professional football league in the Netherlands), Alireza Jahanbakhsh, who plays for AZ Alkmaar is paid 5.5 million euro. In 2014 Jahanbakhsh was voted the second greatest young talent of the 2013–14 Eredivisie season. In 2015 Jahanbakhsh was voted as the best player of the Eerste Divisie for the 2014–15 season.

Jahanbakhsh and a Dutch fan

According to Transfer Markt, Iranian born Reza Ghoochan Nejad, the forward star at SC Heerenveen, with a contract valued at 3 million euros ranks third among Iranian pro football expats in Europe. Ghoochan Nejad, or Goochi as his Iranian fans call him, has lived in the Netherlands since he was four and is now ranking second in score boards in the Dutch football league.

Reza Ghoochan Nejad

Milad Mohammadi, an Iranian footballer Known for his speed and versatility, is currently playing for Akhmat Grozny football club in the Russian Premier League under a 2 million euro contract.

Milad Mohammadi (left)

Ashkan Dejagah, a top Iranian professional footballer who played for Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg was paid 1 million euro. He represented Germany at youth levels between 2001 and 2009, going on to win the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. He has played for the Iranian national team since 2011, helping them qualify for the 2014 World Cup and the 2015 Asian Cup.

Ashkan Dejagah

Not every expatriate Iranian footballer is paid highly. In Portugal, Amir Abedzadeh who plays for Marítimo in the Primeira Liga as a goalkeeper is paid only 100,000 euro. He is the son of former Iranian national team goalkeeper Ahmad Reza Abedzadeh.

Maedeh Borhani Esfahani (in middle with scarf)

And it is a completely different story in other sports and for women. Iran's top female volleyballer, Maedeh Borhani Esfahani, recently made history recently became Iran's first female athlete to be professionally recruited abroad. But Maedeh's contract of only $3000 by Bulgaria's YEB-Shumen 05 (ЙЕБ-Шумен) and references in the Bulgarian media to her Hijab (Islamic baggy cover and head scarf mandated by Iranian government) during her training practices with the Bulgarian team, have been controversial.

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