Brighton and Hove Albion have signed Alireza Jahanbakhsh from AZ Alkmaar for a fee reported to be around £17 million, a club record signing. The Iranian International plays as a right winger, but can also play in an attacking midfielder position and will be a great addition to The Seagulls’ squad.
Alireza Jahanbakhsh recently represented his Country at the 2018 World Cup, where Iran were knocked out in the group stages. He has also represented his county in the u20’s and u23’s where he scored 12 goals in 23 appearances. That said he hasn’t been as prolific in the senior team, with just 4 goals in 41 appearances.
Here’s what Alireza Jahanbakhsh has had to say about his move:
“Brighton fans have always been there and I got good vibes from them. One of the main reasons that made me make this decision was the good feeling that I had about the club”
Fantasy Premier League Potential (£7.0m)
Jahanbakhsh has arrived from AZ Alkmaar, where he had scored 34 goals and provided 27 assists in his 3 seasons at the club. More impressive is his statistics from last season, where he scored 21 and assisted 12 in just 33 games, being the top goal scorer in the Dutch Eredivisie. This will make great reading for all Brighton fans, but even better reading is that his total shots of 144 matched that of Mohamed Salah, proving he will be a real goal threat for The Seagulls.
Alireza Jahanbakhsh has been priced at £7.0m, the same price as other such as Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Lingard. Currently the Iranian is only selected by 1.2% of fantasy premier league managers as many are picking the likes of those mentioned above. That said, as a mid priced midfielder if he does hit the ground running it wouldn’t take much to bring him in. Currently it is Knockaert who occupies his favoured position so it will be expected that he will take the place of the Frenchman.
Brighton’s opening five games aren’t that appealing, being; Watford (A), Manchester United (H), Liverpool (A), Fulham (H) and Southampton (A). They then play Spurs and Manchester City in game weeks 6 and 7. Thereafter however, Brighton have a good run up to gameweek 17 and this it may be wise to hold off bringing in Jahanbakhsh until then, but keep an eye on his form in the first six fixtures.
