Brighton and Hove Albion flop Alireza Jahanbakhsh has admitted he could have joined Leicester City before his move to the Seagulls in 2018.
The Feyenoord forward has been speaking to Football 360 in his homeland, relayed by Voetbal Primeur, about his career so far and in particular his time in England.
He joined Brighton in a €19m deal in July 2018 after five impressive years in the Netherlands, where he managed 19 goals and 22 assists in 64 games for NEC Nijmegen and 37 goals and 31 assists in 111 games for Alkmaar, hence why Leicester will have taken notice.
It meant he arrived at Brighton with a big reputation and plenty of hopes on his shoulders, but he was never able to live up to either, managing just four goals and two assists in 61 games for the club before leaving in 2021.
It’s fair to say his time at Brighton is not one anyone will look back on fondly, and he’s revealed that things could have been very different as Leicester were also keen on him.
“Leicester City and Napoli were serious options and three big clubs from Germany also made an offer,” he said.
“Ajax even wanted to break the transfer record for me, and PSV also showed interest. Only AZ did not want to let me go to another Eredivisie club. In the end, only English clubs could afford me.”
