He ranked second in total goal involvement across the entire league
In the quiet arithmetic of a football season, a newcomer's worth is measured not by reputation but by what he builds from nothing. Mehdi Taremi, arriving in Portugal as an Iranian forward with something to prove, answered that question with sixteen goals and eleven assists — enough to earn a place among Liga Portugal's finest of the 2020-21 campaign. His selection into the team of the year is less a surprise than a confirmation: that belonging, in any new place, is earned through the work itself.
- Taremi led the entire Portuguese top flight in assists with eleven, while ranking second in total goal contributions — numbers that made his omission from any end-of-season honor nearly impossible.
- His inclusion adds to a Porto-heavy awards list, with Pepe and Sérgio Oliveira already named, signaling the club's collective dominance over a title-winning season.
- Sporting CP pushed back with five representatives of their own — Gonçalves, Palhinha, Nuno Mendes, Coates, and Porro — turning the team of the year into a quiet rivalry between the two clubs.
- With nine of eleven positions filled by Wednesday afternoon, the league held two final selections in reserve, leaving the complete picture of the season's best just out of reach for a few more hours.
Mehdi Taremi's debut season at FC Porto closed with a distinction that felt earned rather than given: a place in Liga Portugal's team of the year. The Iranian forward had arrived as a newcomer with a point to prove in an unfamiliar league, country, and language. What followed was a campaign of sixteen goals and eleven assists — the latter figure leading the entire division — and a ranking of second in total goal involvement across all players.
The announcement placed Taremi alongside a roster already shaped heavily by Porto's fingerprints. Sérgio Oliveira and Pepe had been named earlier in the week. Sporting CP contributed five players to the revealed portion of the list, including Pedro Gonçalves, João Palhinha, and Nuno Mendes, with goalkeeper António Adán rounding out nine confirmed selections by Wednesday afternoon.
Two spots remained to be filled later that day, completing the eleven-player portrait of the 2020-21 season's best. For Taremi, the honor meant more than a statistic — it was the quiet verdict of a first year spent not just adapting, but excelling, becoming one of the most productive attacking forces the Portuguese top flight had seen all season.
Mehdi Taremi's first season at FC Porto ended with a place in Liga Portugal's team of the year, announced on Wednesday. The Iranian forward arrived at the club as a newcomer and delivered numbers that made the selection inevitable: sixteen goals and eleven assists across the campaign. That assist total led the entire league. When you add his goals to those created chances, he ranked second among all players in direct goal involvement—a measure of how thoroughly he shaped Porto's attack.
The selection slots Taremi into a roster already heavy with Porto players. Sérgio Oliveira and Pepe had been named earlier in the week. Sporting contributed five names to the announced portion of the team: Pedro Gonçalves, João Palhinha, Nuno Mendes, Sebastián Coates, and Pedro Porro. Goalkeeper António Adán, also from Sporting, completed the list of nine players revealed by Wednesday afternoon.
Two positions remained unfilled. The league was set to announce the final two members of the eleven later that same day, completing the picture of who the Portuguese top flight deemed its best performers across the 2020-21 season. For Taremi, the honor marked validation of a debut campaign that had exceeded reasonable expectations. He had arrived as a signing with something to prove in a new league, a new country, a new language. Instead, he had become one of the season's most productive attacking players, a player whose work created as many chances as he finished himself.
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What made Taremi's season so remarkable, given he was new to the league?
He didn't need time to adjust. Eleven assists in a debut year—that's not a player finding his feet. That's a player who understood immediately how to read the game and move the ball into dangerous spaces.
The assist number stood out more than the goals, it seems.
It did. Sixteen goals is solid. But leading the entire league in assists? That tells you he was doing something most forwards don't—he was making his teammates better while also finishing chances himself.
How much of Porto's success that season came from what he was doing?
You can't isolate one player, but when you're involved in nearly thirty goals directly, you're central to everything. He was the engine.
Did anyone see this coming when he joined?
Probably not to this degree. He was a signing with potential, but potential and actually delivering at this level in a new league are different things. He closed that gap immediately.
What does a team of the year selection mean for a player like him?
It's recognition that you belong. For a foreign player in his first season, it's proof that you're not just adapting—you're already among the best.