KABIR - Iran international Javad Nekounam said he will not be leaving Esteghlal FC after the recent talks with Ali Fathollahzadeh and Amir Ghalenoei. Nekounam was not happy with his situations in Iran after coming back to his country. Expectations were too high from Javad and he failed to deliver his best services in club level.

“It was a perfect meeting. Actually I wanted to leave Esteghlal FC but after talking with Fathollahzadeh and Ghalenoei I changed my decision. I love Esteghlal and my issue was not financial (as it was previously reported by some local media). There were some problems in club which made me sad. Fortunately everything is Okay now and I will do my best for team in future.” said Javad Nekounam, the captain of Team Melli.

Javad Nekounam was heavily linked with Emirates based clubs and Iranian papers reported that he has finalized a deal with Arab club. A few days ago Ali Fathollahzadeh, the president of Esteghlal FC, denied the claims made by local media but Nekounam didn’t comment on the subject in that time.

On 21 July 2012, aged almost 32, Nekounam returned to his country and signed a one-year contract with Esteghlal, for a record $9,000,000.