TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Over the years, the AFC Champions League has seen no shortage of star strikers with some of the best forwards from Asia and beyond appearing in the continental competition.

– Sports news –

Whether it be consistent scoring across numerous campaigns or incredible single-season tallies, goalscorers have so often stolen the spotlight in Asia’s premier club tournament.

As Asian football gets set to move into a new era from next season, the-AFC.com has looked back at some of the finest frontmen to grace the continental competition and Iranian international Mehdi Taremi is one of them.

Few players have been able to translate their AFC Champions League form into success at the very top of European football. At the age of 22, Taremi was playing for his hometown club Iranjavan, but following a move to Iranian powerhouse Persepolis in 2014, he broke through to the forefront of Asian football with a memorable campaign in the 2017 AFC Champions League.

Taremi scored seven goals in 2017, leading his side to the semi-finals which he missed through suspension. After a short spell at Qatar’s Al Gharafa, he moved to Portugal, eventually becoming the first Asian player to win the top scorer award in a European league twice, doing so in 2019-20 and 2022-23.

Taremi also scored 10 goals in the UEFA Champions League, while his volley against Chelsea in the 2020-21 quarter-finals was voted the competition’s goal of the year.