KhabarOnline: Mohammadreza Azadi, Esteghlal's striker, in recent weeks has become accustomed to long-term bench-sitting in this team, and under conditions where the Blues face a shortage of players and Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh's hand is not very open for choosing the lineup, he still does not find much opportunity to be present on the pitch.

This happened while Azadi, in the second week of the league, in the match against Nassaji, scored Esteghlal's single three-point goal, and given the conditions of the Blues' attack line, it was expected that in the current season he would have a bolder role in this team's lineup. However, the striker who at the beginning of the season had managed to score for Esteghlal gradually distanced himself from the technical staff's plans, and now for weeks he has not found even one minute of playing opportunity.

One of the main reasons for this situation is said to be Azadi's physical condition. It is said that Esteghlal's striker, in recent months, has gained about 8 kilograms of excess weight, and distancing himself from the ideal physical condition has been influential in the decrease of his playing minutes and his staying away from the team's lineup. An issue which, alongside the consecutive bench-sittings, has turned this player's situation into one of Esteghlal's noteworthy subjects.

In this regard, Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh, Esteghlal's head coach, in accordance with what had previously been raised about his decision for changes in the team's list, has placed Azadi's name on the surplus list. Thus, the probability of this striker's separation at mid-season seems serious — especially as Esteghlal club also intends, by attracting a foreign center-forward, to increase the team's attacking power.

Azadi, who began the season with a three-point goal, is now facing the probability of leaving Esteghlal under conditions where the Blues are struggling with a shortage of players in the attack line at the current juncture. It remains to be seen whether this striker can change his conditions by the end of the mid-season, or whether the file of his presence at Esteghlal will be closed sooner than expected.

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Source: KhabarOnline