Former £1.5million Bristol City flop turns back on English football for surprising destination

Former Bristol City flop Mo Eisa has completed a surprising move to Iranian top-flight side Nassaji Mazandaran, turning his back on English football.

The 30-year-old has opted for a new life near the Caspian Sea in the northern-Iranian prominence of Mazandaran. Nassaji Mazandaran - better known as Nassaji - play in the Persian Gulf Pro League and have been a regular fixture in Iran’s top flight since their promotion in 2018. Eisa arrives at the Vatani Stadium with his new outfit sitting 14th and one place outside the two-team relegation zone after two draws and three loses in their opening five games of the new campaign.

It’s an unusual destination for the former Peterborough United front man, who departed MK Dons as a free agent at the end of last season.

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The move abroad for Eisa comes six years after his big-money move to Ashton Gate. After netting 23 goals in 43 league outings for Cheltenham Town hopes were high for the striker, who swapped League Two football for the Championship when he completed a £1.5m move to City.

Yet it was a 12-month stint the forward would’ve wanted to forget in a hurry as injury issues limited him to just one competitive start in all competitions along with five league appearances off the bench.

After failing to register a goal in his only campaign with the Robins, his time at BS3 ended just one year into his three-year deal. Another big-money move was on the cards, though, as League One outfit Peterborough splashed the cash to bring the striker to London Road.

Eisa completed a £1.3m switch to the Posh and went on to score 21 goals in 71 appearances during a two-year stay, which included promotion to the Championship in his final season.

Goals continued to flow when he joined MK Dons in 2021 for an undisclosed fee and appeared on the scoresheet 31 times in 101 outings at Stadium MK. He joined Exeter on loan in January but only netted one goal in his six-month stay at St James Park.

After joining Nassaji over the weekend, Eisa will be looking to rekindle his goal-scoring touch and will look to have a successful start to life in Iran when his new side face Shams Azar on Thursday.

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