According to Varzesh 3, after about three years of brilliance in the squad of Sanat Naft Abadan, we witnessed the transfer of Behnam Seraj to Persepolis in the summer of 1998. Interestingly, Persepolis at that time had several prolific Iranian football strikers such as Kourosh Barmak, Ali Baghmisheh, Edmond Bezik, and Behnam Seraj, and a year later they also signed Payan Raft. Amidst the intense congestion in the Persepolis attacking line, Behnam Seraj rarely found the opportunity to appear in the team's starting lineup. However, this tall striker possessed a remarkable scoring instinct and whenever he came onto the pitch, he put on a good performance for Persepolis.
However, this player's fancy style of play was not very much to Ali Parvin's liking, and ultimately, during his period of about two years and three months at Persepolis, he could not find a regular starting position at the club. Behnam Seraj was one of the favorite players of Persepolis fans, who often cheered for him, and of course, in the end, he could not find a place in the Persepolis starting lineup either. But in October 2000, while only a few weeks had passed since the start of the final season of the Azadegan League, we witnessed the unexpected departure of Behnam Seraj from Persepolis.
Perhaps for the first time, a player criticized Ali Parvin officially and publicly in front of live cameras, citing the behavior of the then Persepolis head coach as the main factor for his departure from the club. Later, one of Ali Parvin's close associates claimed that during that period, the coach was suspicious of the faction of Abadani players in the Persepolis dressing room, believing they were not playing with all their might for the club.
Thus, within a span of a few months—first in the summer with the departure of Mehdi Hasheminasab, immediately followed by the leaving of Behnam Seraj, and finally at the end of that same season, the retirement of Ahmadreza Abedzadeh from football—we witnessed three southern players of Persepolis who had a close and cordial relationship with each other leave, and it seems this matter was not very pleasing to Ali Parvin. Especially Behnam Seraj, who was very close and friendly with Abedzadeh, and numerous pictures of them together at that time were published.
In any case, during his time at Persepolis, Behnam Seraj managed to score twice against Foolad. Particularly in the 1999-2000 season, he was one of Persepolis' best players and scored crucial goals against this team. Scoring in consecutive weeks against Sepahan and Pas in May 2000 sealed the championship title for Persepolis, and alongside Mehdi Tartar and other Persepolis players, he lifted the championship trophy at the end of the season.
Although Behnam Seraj had a good performance in September 2000 as well, scoring against Al-Wakrah of Qatar as a substitute, Ali Parvin permitted his departure and transfer to Foolad, marking the end of Behnam Seraj's tenure at Persepolis. This tall and slender striker managed to score against Persepolis three times during his time in Khuzestan, effectively taking his revenge on the team. Yet, even after two decades, Behnam Seraj remains the top scorer in matches between Persepolis and Foolad with five goals, followed by Vahid Amiri and Issa Ale-Kaseer with four goals each. However, even after 25 years, the unexpected departure of Behnam Seraj just a few weeks after the start of the league remains an ambiguous issue for Persepolis fans.
Source: Varzesh 3
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