TEHRAN – Mahmoud Fekri was named Esteghlal football team head coach.

The 51-year-old coach replaced interim coach Majid Namjoo Motlagh in the Tehran based football team.

Fekri was named as Nassaji coach in February as Reza Mohajeri’s replacement and helped them avoid relegation at the end of the 2019-20 Iran Professional League season.

Esteghlal had been linked with former Werder Bremen coach Alexander Nouri but they failed to reach an agreement with the German-Iranian coach due to financial problems.

Esteghlal, as one of the Iranian popular teams, have not won a league title since 2013 and they are determined to end their title drought after eight years.

Fekri has already played in Esteghlal for 13 years over two stints.