UK Club Signs Saeid Ezatolahi on Season-Long Loan

English club Reading FC has signed Saeid Ezatolahi on a season-long loan from Russian side FC Rostov.

The 21-year-old midfielder will link up with the Royals after the upcoming international break, with the deal subject to him being granted a work permit, Sky Sports reported.

“Saeid is a strong, powerful central midfield player with good technical ability,” said Reading manager Paul Clement.

“He has experience playing at the highest level with both the Iranian national team and domestically with his current side FC Rostov and in time spent in Spain with Atlético Madrid. Now, I’m really looking forward to getting to work with him on the training pitch,” he added.

According to the Reading club website, as a teen Ezatolahi joined Iranian club Shahrdari Bandar Anzali and then moved to Malavan. There, he made his first team debut at the age of 16 in 2012 in a Persian Gulf Pro League game against Rah Ahan and was named the Iranian top tier’s youngest ever player in the process.

He was awarded the Young Player of the Year accolade in Iran that same season and a year after making his professional debut, Ezatolahi represented his country in the FIFA Under-17 World Cup.

In 2014, the highly-rated midfielder left his homeland to sign for Atlético Madrid and he made a UEFA Youth League debut in 2015 when Atlético took on Chelsea in the quarterfinals.

That summer, he left Spain to fly into Russia – signing a four-year contract with Rostov. He became the club’s first scorer of a European goal when he netted against Anderlecht in a 2016 EUFA Champions League qualifier.

On the international scene, Ezatolahi was called into the Iran national team by manager Carlos Queiroz and promptly became the youngest goalscorer in the history of the Iran national team at the age of 19 after scoring in a 3–1 victory against Turkmenistan in 2015.

Ezatolahi has played for Team Melli in 27 games and played against Spain and Portugal in the Russia World Cup.