Iran star Mehdi Taremi enjoyed a superb World Cup outing as he scored twice against England less than a year since Arsenal snubbed him.
England kicked off their World Cup campaign in Doha today and ran riot against Iran.
The Three Lions were outstanding in a 6-2 thrashing with Arsenal star Bukayo Saka scoring twice.
Jude Bellingham, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish also found the net in a superb England display.
Mehdi Taremi scores twice against England after Arsenal links
Iran did find a couple of goals themselves though.
Porto striker Mehdi Taremi played in on goal at 4-0 down and he fired a great strike past Jordan Pickford, rifling his shot in off the crossbar.
Taremi then scored a late – and very soft – penalty to make it 6-2 in the dying seconds.
Taremi has been in ridiculous form for Porto this season, racking up 13 goals and eight assists in 19 outings for the Portuguese side.
The 30-year-old was Iran’s main threat and whilst the service to him wasn’t amazing, he certainly gave Harry Maguire and John Stones a game.
Taremi could have been facing these England players on a regular basis had Arsenal been convinced by him.
Reports from CBS Sports suggested that Taremi was actually offered to Arsenal during the January transfer window.
Edu chose not to sign Taremi and he has done nothing but score goals ever since.
Today’s two-goal showing a was a reminder of the quality Taremi possesses and Arsenal may still be watching.
A Bola reported in October that Arsenal and Chelsea are both interested in signing Taremi.
Arsenal may now have seen enough to change their minds about Taremi and make a move for the centre forward, even if he doesn’t fit Edu’s usual age profile.
Taremi at least has a couple of World Cup goals to celebrate but whether he will have a Premier League future remains to be seen.
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