A strong start for Sayyadmanesh

The winger - whose CV includes spells with clubs in Ukraine, England and Belgium - officially joined the ten-time Polish Champions in June. He trained with Niels Frederiksen’s squad in Poznań several times. However, when his new team began their training camp at the Research and Development Centre, Sayyadmanesh travelled to Turkey to obtain the visa required to work in Poland. The process took more than a week, meaning the Iranian only joined Lech's training camp towards its end. As a result, he needed some additional time to reach peak fitness.

"The beginning was difficult from a physical perspective because I missed almost the entire pre-season, but it didn’t take long for me to find my rhythm. Regular training, more opportunities on the pitch and hard work - that’s what helped me build myself up," explained the 25-year-old.

Lech's new winger made his debut in the first official match of the season, after which he celebrated winning the Polish Super Cup. He had to wait until the beginning of August for his first goal - that's when he found the net against Wieczysta Kraków in the PKO BP Ekstraklasa. Since then, he has scored a spectacular goal in the league match against Piast Gliwice and produced his most productive performance in a Lech shirt to date in the second leg against KÍ Klaksvík. Last Friday, he put his side ahead before providing a fine assist for Pablo Rodríguez after halftime.

It's Sayyadmanesh's strongest start at a new club thus far in his career. He has been remarkably effective, contributing a goal or assist every 72 minutes on average. So, what is the key to this success? "I feel great here, and a lot of that is down to the other players, the coaching staff and everyone at the club. Thanks to all of them, I feel as though I’ve been at Lech for a very long time. In these circumstances, you settle into a new place very quickly, and I’m especially happy that I’m already able to help the team. I want to keep showing what I can do, right until the end of the season," says the Iranian player.

His effectiveness in front of goal is only one of his strengths. As a versatile player, Sayyadmanesh gives Lech's coaching staff plenty of options, as he can play in several positions across the pitch. The Iranian has demonstrated this in the squad's most recent game. "Depending on what the team needs, I can play in different positions, just as I did in the Faroe Islands - on either wing or as a number 9, which was an issue for us in that match. Mika picked up an injury, and Yannick was dealing with visa issues, so I could say I know exactly what he was going through. Even in such an unusual situation, we coped quite well. Daniel Håkans played quite a few minutes as a striker and scored a goal, but overall we managed the situation well," emphasised Sayyadmanesh.