TEHRAN - Mehdi Taremi is the top star of Iranian football in European leagues, better to say the only star!

The Iranian national continued his scoring run in the Portuguese Primeira Liga, helping his side Porto to a 4-1 victory against Famalicao Sunday night.

Taremi scored the Dragon’s fourth goal with a spectacular header in the 48th minute. It was his tenth goal of the season in the 2022-2023 Primeira Liga and put him in the second place of the league’s top scorers table after Benfica’s Goncalo Ramos with 11 goals.

The Bushehr born striker jointly lead the table of players with the most assists in the Portuguese league.

To boost his eye-catching stats, the 30-year-old forward has helped Porto to lead the Group B of the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League with five goals and two assists. Porto will face Inter Milan on Feb. 22 in the UCL Round of 16.

The Porto forward scored two goals against England in Group B of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Last week, Taremi was selected as the only Iranian player in the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) Men’s AFC Team 2022.

The Iran international has been so prolific with the Dragons since the summer of 2020 that Manchester United icon Rio Ferdinand preferred the Red Devils sign FC Porto star Mehdi Taremi rather than Besiktas’ Wout Weghorst.

The English signed finally signed the Dutch striker. However, speaking on Vibe with Five on Youtube, Ferdinand, who spent 12 years at United, revealed that he would have Taremi at the club over Weghorst. When asked about the Holland international’s potential arrival, the ex-defender said: “I’d have gone and got Taremi in from Porto.”

At the beginning of the year 2023, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) introduced the top scorers of 2022, and Taremi was ranked 4th on the list. The top players were Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain & France), Erling Haaland (Dortmund/Man City & Norway), and Robert Lewandowski (Bayern/Barcelona & Poland).

It was the icing on the cake for the Iranian superstar, a man who according to a reporter on the Portuguese Sports TV channel “does not know how to play badly”.