Celtic target Iran star unearthed by old Manchester United coach
Published:
Something of a divisive figure during his time at Old Trafford, Carlos Queiroz nevertheless occupies an important place in the history of Manchester United.
It was the Portuguese coach after all, who pushed for the club to sign a young Sporting Lisbon winger by the name of Cristiano Ronaldo all those years ago.
A friend and ally of the Ballon D’Or winner during his time with the Red Devils, it was Queiroz who urged Sir Alex Ferguson to travel to his house in Lisbon to meet with Ronado, with the pair successfully negotiating a deal to bring the attacker to Manchester.
The rest, as they say, is history but Queiroz’s eye for talent could be about to come back into focus if the latest transfer rumours surrounding fellow British giants Celtic are to be believed.
It comes amid reports in The Daily Record suggesting the Hoops are keeping tabs on 21-year-old winger Alireza Jahanbakhsh.
Currently on the books at Dutch second-tier outfit N.E.C., the Iranian attacker has impressed in Holland, scoring 17 goals and providing a further 17 assists in 58 appearances to date.
And one man who knows plenty about the wide-man is Queiroz, who handed Jahanbakhsh his international debut back in October 2013.
It did not take the 21-year-old too long to make an impact either, scoring his first international goal in just his second appearance for the national side.
Since then Jahanbakhsh has been a mainstay of the Iran setup, playing all three of the national team’s games at the World Cup in Brazil and at the recent Asia Cup in Australia.
A hard-working and surprisingly hard-tackling winger, the Iranian youngster is a fine passer of the ball and despite only standing tall at 5ft 11in, he can provide plenty of aerial threat.
Likely to pose an inexpensive gamble to a Celtic side looking to unearthing diamonds-in-the-rough, Jahanbakhsh’s possible arrival could also spell the end for loan duo Wakaso Mubarak and Aleksander Tonev.
Both wingers, on loan from Rubin Kazan and Aston Villa respectively, have failed to impress at Parkhead this term and could be jettisoned in favour of a younger alternative.
With the seal of approval already in place from Queiroz, the Bhoys could be looking at Iran’s answer to CR7.
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