According to Mehr’s reporter, Ehsan Haj Safi, the captain of Iran’s national football team, after two years in AAC, extended his contract with this team for another 1+1 year before the end of this Greek Super League season.
Haj Safi, who had a brilliant performance in the AAK team after the 2022 World Cup, persuaded the head coach and managers of this club to extend his contract, and this was finalized last week.
Now, a few days after signing the new contract, the Greek media claimed that Haj Safi rejected a big offer from Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Referring to the condition of the AAK team this season and the low volatility of the Iranian defender, the Greek publication SportDay wrote:
“Until the league was shut down for the Qatar World Cup, Iran’s left-back was in AAC under his compatriot Milad Mohammadi. He looked like he was losing his place in the lineup, but a bad moment brought him forward. When both Iranian players returned from Qatar, it became clear that Mohammadi has a very serious injury that will keep him out of action for at least three months.
So Haji Safi came on and was so supported by the manager that AAK did not look to sign a player for the left side of their defense in January. Haji Safi showed that he is a very fit and stable player and he was also great defensively.
In the vast majority of tournaments in which Hajj participated, he was consistently among the best; A player with great intelligence, perfect adaptability to the coach’s tactical demands and a remarkable degree of concentration to do the right thing. So where there was uncertainty as to whether or not AAK would keep him in the team after the summer, Haji Safi secured a new contract for the next 1+1 years with the team.
In fact, he rejected a very big offer from Qatar and while he had offers from Saudi Arabia, he chose AAC from teams that could offer much more money and responded to the coach’s trust. “Haj Safi is a wonderful asset to the dressing room and a player that everyone loves and we are delighted to see him continue his career at AAC.”
According to Mehr reporter, Matias Almeida, the head coach of AAC, also praised the Iranian defender of his team and in response to a question about Haj Safi’s contract extension, he said: First of all, I am happy for this player, the team and myself because I know that I can I will count on him next season.
Almeida added: Haj Safi deserves it and has shown it every day with his actions. When he was Milad Mohammadi’s reserve and had to sit on the bench, he always had the team’s interests in mind and waited for the right moment. In fact, for me his performance was steadily improving. I’ll add another thing to this: for me, the most important thing is that he is a great professional player and an amazing person.