The Iranian club has failed to reach an agreement with Italian coach Andrea Stramaccioni and now is going to sign the Croatian coach.
Skocic has 18-month remaining on his current contract and it's pretty unlikely that Sanat Naft will let him go.
Esteghlal has also negotiated with an Italian coach.
The Blues sit fifth in the Iran Professional League (IPL) table with 29 points, five points adrift of leader Persepolis.