TEHRAN – Esteghlal football team completed the signing of Gael Romeo Kakuta Mambenga.

The 33-year-old winger has joined the Iranian top-flight club from France’s Ligue 2 club Amiens.

Kakuta has penned a one-year deal with Esteghlal for an undisclosed fee.

A youth product of RC Lens, Kakuta moved to Chelsea in 2007 and has also played in Fulham, Vitesse, Lazio and Sevilla.

He was a French youth international and represented the nation at every age group from under-16 to under-21 levels, before switching allegiance to the DR Congo national team in 2017.

Esteghlal, headed by Javad Nekounam, finished in second place in the 2023/24 Iran Persian Gulf Professional League.