With much of Europe deep in its winter cold, Asia’s players abroad continue to turn up the heat, with 10 contenders based in six separate countries in the discussion for this week’s award.
Mehdi Taremi (FC Porto, IR Iran)
78 minutes, 1 assist, 94% pass accuracy (2-0 v Nacional)
Iranian striker Taremi returns to our list despite not finding the back of the net in Porto’s Primeira Liga win over Nacional. He did, however, set up a goal for striker partner Moussa Marega, with Taremi supplying four goals and one assist in his last eight appearances.
Sardar Azmoun (Zenit Saint-Petersburg, IR Iran)
89 minutes, 1 goal, 72% pass accuracy, 10 duels won (3-1 v Spartak Moscow)
Another game, another goal for Team Melli’s main man who goes into the Russian Premier League’s winter break with 11 goals from 14 league appearances. No player in the league has scored more.
Ali Gholizadeh (Charleroi, IR Iran)
90 minutes, 1 goal, 76% pass accuracy (1-0 v Anderlecht)
Another Iranian making regular appearances in this poll is Charleroi’s Ali Gholizadeh, who scored a dramatic injury-time winner against Belgian giants Anderlecht in the league on Friday. It was Gholizadeh’s second goal in four days.
The Iranian trio will vie with Takumi Minamino (Liverpool, Japan), Sam Kerr (Chelsea, Australia), Caitlin Foord (Arsenal, Australia), Ryota Morioka (Charleroi, Japan), Yuma Suzuki (Sint-Truiden, Japan), John-Patrick Strauß (Erzgebirge Aue, Philippines) and Nikita Rukavytsya (Maccabi Haifa, Australia) to win the accolade.