MARCA - ROSTOV, When Atletico Madrid clash with FC Rostov on Tuesday evening at Olimp-2, Iranian starlet Saeid Ezatolahi is set to turn from friend to foe.

Born in 1996, the 20-year-old initially started off at the youth academy of his local club, Malavan, before a meteoric rise saw him promoted to the club’s first-team by 16 years of age.

His performances in the Persian Pro Gulf League saw him court the attention of several European sides including Besiktas, Lugano and Rubin Kazan but they were eventually pipped by the Rojiblancos.

Ezatolahi, though, did not manage to make an appearance for the Atletico youth side until November after bureaucratic issues delayed the transfer. Once that was finalised he made appearances in the UEFA Youth league under Armando de la Morena, helping the side to the quarterfinal where they lost to Chelsea, before he was promoted to the now defunct Atletico Madrid “C” team.

The decision to dissolve the side saw the player move to Rostov where his transfer to the club was once again delayed. Since then however, Ezatolahi has been a mainstay in the club’s first-team and scored their first-ever goal on the continental stage other than in the UEFA Intertoto Cup.

He also became the youngest international debutant for Iran at 19 years and 14 days after Carlos Queiroz included him in both matches against Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan last year.

The playmaker made an impact in both, providing an assist in his debut before following up with his first international goal in the next game.

Despite Atletico’s class, Ezatolahi’s reunion is a chance for the youngster to showcase his own quality and a chance to determine how far he has come since his Rojiblancos days.