Rahman Rezaei is currently the most successful Asian defender in Europe. In the 2003/2004 season, he helped Messina gain promotion to Serie A. He had been one of Messina's most consistently used players with 36 appearances in their 2004–05 mid-table finish. After steadily playing for his club for three seasons, at the end of August 2006 Rezaei signed with another Serie A club, Livorno.