After Celtic missed out for £1.5m, is Jahanbakhsh now the Eredivisie’s best player?
Alireza Jahanbakhsh of AZ during the Dutch Eredivisie match between AZ Alkmaar and Ajax Amsterdam at AFAS stadium on December 17, 2017 in Alkmaar, The Netherlands
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Loading...HITC – GLASGOW, Scottish Premiership champions Celtic failed to sign AZ Alkmaar ace Jahanbaksh for a minimal fee but he would cost far more these days.
Back in 2015, Celtic could have signed a little known Iranian winger by the name of Alireza Jahanbakhsh.
As reported by the Scotsman, the speedy attacker had caught Celtic’s eye after an impressive breakthrough campaign in the Dutch second tier with NEC Nijmegen. At the time, Jahanbakhsh was valued at just £1.5 million.
Two-and-a-half years on, however, you can probably multiply that price-tag by ten.
Needless to say, Jahanbakhsh did not move to Parkhead in the summer of 2015. Instead, he swapped NEC for AZ Alkmaar and, in truth, he has not looked back since.
The 24-year-old is now one of the most exciting creative players in the Eredivisie.
He has ten goals and eight assists to his name this season and can stake a claim to be the best player in Holland, although PSV’s Hirving Lozano and Feyenoord’s former Watford man Steven Burghuis would have something to say about that.
The Mail stated in the spring of last year that AZ valued Jahanbakhsh at about £9 million amid reported interest from Bournemouth and Burnley. But with transfer fees around the globe rising, including in Holland where Nicolai Jorgensen is rated at £25 million, you can expect that Jahanbakhsh would comfortably command an eight-figure sum these days.
If only Celtic had signed him when they had the chance. Because the prolific winger, who carries Iran’s World Cup hopes on his shoulders, would arguably be the best player in Scotland by now.
