Clock ticking for injured Jahanbakhsh and Iran’s AFC Asian Cup campaign

Carlos Queiroz and the Iranian national team may face some difficult decisions heading into December as he works towards naming his final squad for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, with attacking midfielder Alireza Jahanbakhsh still struggling to recover from a troublesome hamstring injury, which has kept the player out of action for much longer than originally expected.

There were great expectations for Jahanbakhsh when he signed for Brighton & Hove Albion during the summer, completing a club record move from Dutch Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar after featuring in all three matches for Iran at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where he was one of the most impressive performers for his national team, as they narrowly missed out on progressing to the knock-out stages of the competition.

 
Image Source: @rezahakbari via Twitter

Match appearances for Jahanbakhsh have been limited during the season so far, with Brighton expected to comfortably avoid relegation according to the William Hill Premier League betting markets, although more regular availability and appearances on his part would clearly help their cause. During the course of the current campaign, the 25-year-old has made just 4 Premier League starts and 6 further appearances from the substitutes bench, along with one more start in the EFL Cup.

Worryingly for his chances of being fully fit and ready to represent Iran at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, with Team Melli scheduled to travel to Doha on 17th December for a pre-tournament training camp, Jahanbakhsh hasn’t featured for Brighton since suffering a hamstring injury against Everton at the start of November, showing clear signs of discomfort when he pulled up with the game deep into stoppage time.

After the 3-1 defeat at Goodison Park and despite the injury sustained, the extent of which wasn’t clear at the time, Jahanbakhsh remained positive. “Hopefully what happened to my leg is nothing serious and hopefully I can make more minutes,” he told the Brighton & Hove Independent in a post-match interview, while looking forward to recovering swiftly, continuing his adaption to English football at Brighton and in the Premier League.

Jahanbakhsh contributed towards a rich vein of form that Brighton enjoyed during October, starting all three of their Premier League games against West Ham, Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers, as the Seagulls took maximum points. However, November has proven to be more difficult for the team, starting with the loss to Everton in which he was injured. That result was followed by defeat at Cardiff City and a draw against Leicester City.

 
Image Source: @SkySportsPL via Twitter

Brighton head into December with a packed fixture list, facing three games in just eight days against Huddersfield Town, Crystal Palace and Burnley. Jahanbakhsh is considered ‘one to watch’ at the 2019 Asian Cup, so appearing in those games will boost the chances of him appearing at the tournament, although his club will also be reluctant to release the player, should they believe he hasn’t recovered fully.  

There’s also the prospect of Brighton potentially losing Jahanbakhsh for up to nine Premier League matches, should Queiroz insisting the player being present for the pre-tournament preparations in Doha, which could cause friction between the club and his country. The 2019 AFC Cup itself is scheduled to be held between 5th January and 1st February, potentially leaving Brighton without their most expensive signing for the busiest period of the English football calendar.