May be but NOT PROVEN. The big take away is none of Iranian (with the exception of Kia and may be Hashemian to an extend) were able to prove themselves in top teams. End of story. Karimi played ONLY 33 games for Bayern in 2 years and only scored 3 goals!!!!.....if he was THAT good he would be scooped up by 20 other European teams in a heart beat for his talent. How come he wasn't picked? CLEARLY he was not good enough. Put emotions aside, his numbers in top flight football are absolutely horrible no matter how you cut it and slice it. His flare and, dribbles as sexy as they were to average viewer's eyes gained little interest from PROFESSIONAL TOP FLIGHT TEAMS.
This argument that Son has made it and plays football at a higher level than Karimi because Son gets regular play for Tottenham is ridiculous. First, Son plays for Tottenham, a club that does not deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as Bayern Munich let alone compared to say that they are on the same level. Quite frankly the team Karimi played for was stacked in the midfield and the German captain was playing the same position as Karimi. There was no way he was going to be preferred to start over Ballack no matter what. Second, Karimi didn't have the same luck that Son has every other week with Harry Kane consistently being injured because Ballack wasn't consistently injured. Third, Tottenham played a system with 3 strikers (see picture below) which continues to give Son triple the opportunity to start games compared to Karimi. Considering up until recently Tottenham didn't even have more than 3 strikers in their whole squad, Son was basically guaranteed a fixed spot in the lineup. As would any other player who would have been in the squad instead of him. And lastly, Karimi played for the more prestigious Bayern, because he is simply much more talented than Son. Which is why Son still has not been able to play for a real top club. He is in a great position at Tottenham where they have 2 strikers filling 3 attacking positions in their preferred formation. He would not be able to find that luck anywhere else.
Daei has him beat in goals???? against who? accumulating goals against maldives and guams is worth little in my books.
Daei only scored 19 goals in 109 games between the 3 Bundesliga clubs he played between 1997-2002 (prime of his career) !!! again 19 goals in 109 games as a center forward!!!!!!!
Son has scored 60 goals in 164 games for spurs and he is not even the center forward !!!!!!!!! we are talking top flight football here
and in case you were wondering Son's assist #s are not that far from behind Mahdavikia's !!!
So scoring against Maldives and Guam is easy right? It must be easy or else you would value it. If it is so easy to score in asia, why can't Son score? He has been a part of the national set up since he was a teenager. In a decades time he has made 89 apps and only scored 26 goals. Clearly he stands on the shoulders of his teammates at Tottenham where he is guaranteed a fixed starting position since they employed 3 strikers for 3 striking positions up until recently. Btw, not only has Daei outscored him, he has won more trophies than Son too.
Similar to Karimi, Daei made it to a top club Bayern because he was a top player. Unlike Son who has not been able to make it to a top team.
Yes Mahdavikia is one of the best midfielders in German football history and he will always be remembered as breaking one of their most prestigious records. Son played for Hamburg and could not match that achievement. He hasn't broken the assist or goals record in the epl either.
This is very subjective, so let's not go there.
Your whole argument is subjective, perhaps we should ignore all of it too since it centers on EPL and Tottenham are the only achievements that matter.