In August, Jürgen Locadia moved to Iran. Due to the political unrest, the former VfL Bochum striker has now already left there.

Jürgen Locadia has apparently fled Iran due to the ongoing unrest in the country. This was reported by the television station “Iran International”. According to the report, his home country, the Netherlands, has apparently advised its citizens in Iran to leave the country if possible. Locadia, who was under contract with VfL Bochum for half a year last season, had only moved to the Iranian top club Persepolis FC in August.

At the club from the capital city of Tehran, things went extremely well for the 29-year-old in sporting terms. Locadia was a regular and scored six goals in nine games, making him his team’s top scorer. Persepolis FC is in first place in the Persian Gulf Pro League table. But the unrest in the country since mid-September following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini by police violence has plunged the authoritarian country into chaos.

According to “Iran International”, Locadia is said to have initially told those responsible for his club that he wanted to leave Iran because of family problems and his wife’s illness. After receiving no permission to do so, he is said to have finally decided to leave the country on his own initiative – immediately before the Tehran derby against local rivals Esteghlal FC, who are in second place in the table directly behind Persepolis. His club later announced that Locadia had left for “other reasons”.

Locadia scored for VfL Bochum against Bayern and BVB

Locadia moved to Castroper Straße in January 2022, previously playing on loan for FC Cincinnati and owned by Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion. In eleven games in the Bundesliga, the striker scored two goals and set up one goal. He saved his goals for absolute highlight matches: In the spectacular 4:2 victory over FC Bayern Munich, he scored the intermediary 2:1, in the 4:3 win at Borussia Dortmund, Locadia scored to equalise 3:3.