Alireza Jahanbakhsh

Location: Alkmaar, the Netherlands


Just kidding, this picture was made in the Netherlands at an award ceremony. We don't know in what kind of fashion he currently lives in Brighton.

The Iranian football player started his youth career at Payam Alborz Qazvin and joined the youth academy of Damash Gilan in 2008. His professional football career started when he signed at Damash Tehran in 2010. He played his first game in the Iran Pro League against Mes and became one of the youngest players ever in the league. He made his first goal for the club in January 2012, the matchwinner in a 1-0 victory over Fajr. After 42 league appearances in the first team he moved to Europe and signed at the Dutch Eredivisie club N.E.C. Nijmegen. In the Netherlands he became a revelation – after 55 games and 17 goals he signed at one of the nation’s biggest clubs AZ Alkmaar in 2015. At AZ he became soon one of the most important and beloved players and in Alkmaar he had the opportunity to play European football. In his three years at AZ he won several personal prices such as the best winger of the 2016-17 season. His last season, the 2017-18 season, was by far his best and he became the top scorer of the league with 21 goals and 12 assists. He was the first Asian player ever to become the top goal scorer in a European competition. In the summer of 2018 he signed at the Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion for a record fee – he signed a five year contract.