TEHRANTIMES - Esteghlal football club has signed Sepahan defender Vouria Ghafouri on a two-year contract on Sunday.

The 28-year old defender is the third signing of Esteghlal new coach Alireza Mansourian after Bakhtiar Rahmani and Farshid Esmaeili.

“I’m so happy to join Esteghlal since I’ve been a Blues’ fan since I was a child. Mansourian is a great coach and I know him from Pas Hamedan. I can’t wait to play for Esteghlal.  I hope my good performance at Esteghlal could take me to Team Melli and 2018 World Cup,” Ghafouri told Esteghlal official website.

Ghafouri, who is an experienced defender, has previously played for Pas Hamedan, Shahrdari Tabriz, Naft Tehran and Sepahan.

Vouria has played 14 times for Iran national team. He was first called up to Iran national football team in October 2014 by Carlos Queiroz. Ghafouri made his debut in match against South Korea on 18 November 2014. The 28-year-old was called into Iran's 2015 AFC Asian Cup squad on 30 December 2014 by Carlos Queiroz.