Taj Says Navidkia Will Join Bochum

IRNA- Isfahan's Sepahan and German club VfL Bochum have reached an agreement to transfer national midfielder Moharram Navidkia to the Bundesliga-bound team, said directorate head of Iranian club Monday.

Mehdi Taj added that Navidkia will surely play for Bochum next season.

According to the official, the midfielder who has sustained a left knee injury will most likely travel to Germany to undergo treatment whose expenses will be borne by Sepahan and Football Federation.

Navidkia has been scheduled to return home after two weeks, train for a month, and then join the German team.

On June 3, a Bochum spokesman announced that Navidkia has signed a three-year contract with the club.

"The contract will become effective on July 1, provided Navidkia can pass a medical test on his injured left knee," VfL Bochum spokesman Christian Gruber told IRNA.

"We don't know the exact severity of his knee injury but if Navidkia's recuperation goes according to plan, the contract will go into effect," he added.

Navidkia picked a torn ligament on his left knee during Iran's Olympic qualifier against South Korea.

The midfielder, who is the third Iranian footballer to join Bochum after Mehdi Mahdavikia and Vahid Hashemian, was voted Iran's player of the year in 2003.

The 21-year-old player is considered as one of Asia's greatest football talents.