Mehdi Taremi


Mehdi Taremi is an Iranian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Primeira Liga club Rio Ave and the Iran national team.
Taremi played for Persepolis between 2014 and 2018. He has been the top scorer of the Persian Gulf Pro League on two occasions. He also won Primeira Liga top scorer in 2019–20. Taremi made his first appearance for the Iran national team in 2015.

Club career

Early career

Taremi started his career with Bargh Bushehr's Academy before moving on to Iranjavan's Youth Academy.

Shahin Bushehr

He joined Shahin Bushehr in the summer of 2010. He played 7 games and scored one goal in all competitions. In the winter of 2012, he was released by Shahin Bushehr to spend his conscription period in a military club, but he failed to join a club and was forced to spend his conscription period in a usual garrison.

Iranjavan

He joined Iranjavan in the summer of 2013 and signed a two-year contract until the end of the 2014–15 season and was given the number 9. Taremi scored 12 times in 22 matches in 2013–14, and became the league's second top scorer after Mokhtar Jomehzadeh.

Persepolis

After becoming the Azadegan League's top scorer, Taremi had offers from many teams. He joined Persepolis FC in the summer of 2014 and signed a two-year contract through June 2016.

2014–15

He made his debut in 1–1 draw with Naft Tehran, coming as a substitute for Reza Norouzi in 90th minute. He scored his first goal for the club on 15 August 2014 in a 1–0 victory over Zob Ahan. On 8 April 2015 Taremi scored a penalty in Persepolis 1–0 win in the Asian Champions League over Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr. He scored many goals for the club, and provided quality assists to win the Best Striker Award of the 14th Persian Gulf Pro League at the end of the 2014-15 season.

2015–16

Taremi missed the first week of the new season due to suspension, but in his first game back on 6 August 2015, he scored in a 2–1 loss to Esteghlal Khuzestan. Taremi scored twice in a 2–0 week five win against Foolad. This was Persepolis' first win of the season and lifted them out of the relegation spot. Taremi's good performances in the month of August earned him the Navad player of the month as voted by fans. On 18 December 2015 Taremi scored a brace against Rah Ahan in Persepolis' 2–0 victory. He ended the first half of the league as top scorer with 9 goals in 12 games.
On 4 April 2016 Taremi scored a brace in a 3–2 victory against Siah Jamegan to keep Persepolis in third place. On 12 April 2016 Taremi was in talks to extend his contract to the end of the 2017–18 season. But, eventually he decided not to renew his contract. On 15 April 2016 Taremi scored a brace in Persepolis' historic 4–2 victory over Esteghlal in the Tehran derby. He became the league's top scorer with 16 goals at the end of the season, unless his team lost title at the last week.

2016–17

Before the start of the new season, Taremi announced that he would not extend his contract, in order to join to a European team. In July 2016, it was reported that Taremi was linked to Süper Lig team Çaykur Rizespor. The move was cancelled after Taremi returned to Iran and signed a two-year contract with Persepolis. He played his first match for Persepolis in 1–0 win over Saipa, replaced Omid Alishah in 77th minute. He also scored his first goal of the season in week 4 against Saba Qom. He scored a brace in 3–1 away win over Sepahan, in a match known as Iran's El Clasico. At the end of the season, the club celebrated its 10th Iran Pro League title, and Taremi became top scorer for a second consecutive season with 18 goals.
On 8 May 2017, Taremi scored a decisive hat trick against Emirati side Al Wahda in a 4–2 win to help his team qualify for the Round of 16 of the 2017 AFC Champions League. After his good performances, Taremi was linked with Dinamo Zagreb.

2017–18

He playing 7 games, scoring 4 goals, and during the 2017–18 season, Taremi was banned for four months because of a contract dispute with Turkish club Çaykur Rizespor dating back to June 2016, when the player reached an agreement to join the club and later returned to Persepolis. Persepolis were also banned from signing players for two transfer windows. FIFA ruled in favor of the Turkish club and imposed the ban.

Al Gharafa

On 8 January 2018, Taremi signed an 18-month contract with the Qatari club Al-Gharafa. He scored his first goal in the first match of 2018 AFC Champions League against UAE's Al Jazira. Taremi first scored goal in Qatar League against Al Kharaitiyat SC on 16 Feb And On 19 February, he scored a brace against Iranian side Tractor Sazi on the second match day of the AFC Champions League.

Rio Ave

On 23 July 2019, Taremi signed a two-year contract with Portuguese football club Rio Ave. Taremi scored a hat-trick in his first Primeira Liga start for the club on 23 August 2019 in a match against C.D. Aves. On 31 August, Taremi won his side three penalties in their match against Sporting CP, all on fouls committed by Sebastián Coates, as Rio Ave won 3–2.

International career

Youth

He played for Iran student's national football team in Turkey tournament and scored 9 goals for the team. He was called up by Ali Reza Mansourian to participate in the team's training camp in Kish Island in 2013.

Senior

He made his debut against Uzbekistan in a friendly match on 11 June 2015. He also came on as a second-half substitute in a World Cup Qualifying match against Turkmenistan on 16 June 2015.
On 3 September 2015, Taremi scored his first senior goals, a brace, in a 6–0 defeat of Guam in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier. On 23 March 2017, Taremi scored the winning and only goal in Iran's victory against Qatar in the final round of World Cup qualifying. He followed this up with another goal on 28 March 2017, in a decisive 1–0 victory against China. On 12 June 2017, Taremi scored the second goal for Iran in a 2-0 win over Uzbekistan to seal the country's first consecutive qualification to two World Cups. In June 2018, he was named in Iran's final 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. With the score tied 1-1 in stoppage time in Iran's group stage match with Portugal, Taremi missed a point-blank shot wide left that would have eliminated Portugal and advanced Iran to the round of 16.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

NoDateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.3 September 2015Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran32–06–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.3 September 2015Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran35–06–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.8 September 2015Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore, India43–03–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
4.17 November 2015Guam National Football Stadium, Tamuning, Guam71–06–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
5.17 November 2015Guam National Football Stadium, Tamuning, Guam76–06–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
6.7 June 2016Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran112–06–0Friendly
7.10 November 2016Shah Alam Stadium, Shah Alam, Malaysia152–08–1Friendly
8.23 March 2017Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, Qatar171–01–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
9.28 March 2017Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran181–01–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
10.12 June 2017Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran192–02–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
11.27 March 2018UCP Arena, Graz, Austria252–02–1Friendly
12.24 December 2018Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha, Qatar341–01–1Friendly
13.31 December 2018Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar351–02–1Friendly
14.7 January 2019Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates361–05–02019 AFC Asian Cup
15.7 January 2019Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates363–05–02019 AFC Asian Cup
16.24 January 2019Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates401–03–02019 AFC Asian Cup
17.3 June 2019Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran412–05–0Friendly
18.3 June 2019Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran413–05–0Friendly
19.3 June 2019Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran414–05–0Friendly
20.10 October 2019Azadi Stadium, Tehran, Iran439–014–02022 FIFA World Cup qualification

Personal life

He is the third and the youngest child of his family. His older brother Mohammad is also a football player.
Mehdi has good professional and personal relationships with all national football players but is on especially good terms with Sardar Azmoun, Morteza Pouraliganji and Mohsen Mosalman, the latter being his closest friend and roommate in Persepolis.
He was in a relationship with Iranian actress Sahar Ghoreishi for months in 2018. In March 2020, Taremi announced he is in a new relationship and prepares for marriage.

Honours

Club

;Persepolis
;Al-Gharafa