Leeds United are hoping Tarik Muharemovic will be an upgrade on the departed Pascal Struijk given his price tag.
The Whites have agreed a deal in principle worth around £34m for the 23-year-old centre-back, who has earned rave reviews in Italy with Sassuolo. Terms are still to be agreed so there are still discussions to be had before the move becomes official.
Part of the reason for his hefty fee is that Juventus will take half of the money as per the terms of his £1.7m transfer last summer. The fact that Bournemouth, Sunderland and Newcastle United all enquired about Muharemovic shows the reputation he has built.
Those who have watched the Bosnia & Herzegovina international regularly have labelled him as a no-nonsense and pragmatic 6ft 4in defender.
Playing characteristics
His strengths lie in blocking the ball, making clearances, spying interceptions and showing aerial prowess in both boxes. Also left-footed, one could be forgiven for branding him as Struijk 2.0. Indeed, there are similarities.
Muharemovic is not the most agile of defenders and so is known to compensate by looking to anticipate a loose touch, coming forward to nab the ball when an attacker makes such an error.
He is also well-versed in operating slightly wider when a midfield pivot drops into defence, thereby allowing the full-back to push up.
Tarik Muharemovic is left-footed
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Tarik Muharemovic is left-footed(Image: sportinfoto/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images)
This is hardly a unique phenomenon in today’s game, but it infers he is comfortable operating under such tactics, which Leeds have operated throughout Daniel Farke’s reign - including when playing a back four, something the boss could eventually revert to.
In regards to his passing, analysts of the Italian game state Muharemovic is careful in his choices and while he can pass forward between the lines, normally he tends to do so when he has more time and space.
Critics have encouraged him to be braver in his passing. When under pressure, the centre-half, perhaps naturally, is known to make more mistakes when pressed.
His lack of relative pace usually causes him to drop off during the transition phase and allow attackers more space to get a shot away. But at age 23, Leeds know they would not be buying the finished article right now.
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Differences to Struijk
An important contrast to hold when analysing the two players is that Muharemovic played in a slower-paced Italian league, even if nowadays it is not as languid as it is typically stereotyped.
Muharemovic completed 85.7% of his passes last season, which is similar to Struijk’s own return. However, his aerial dominance is slightly better, with 64.4% of his aerial duels won compared to his counterpart’s 55.6%.
Muharemovic is strong in the air
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Muharemovic is strong in the air(Image: Emmanuele Ciancaglini/Getty Images)
The Bosnian was also dispossessed less than Struijk, losing the ball of his own accord twice compared to the eight times of the now-Brighton defender. Muharemovic can attack the ball from set-pieces but had fewer headed shots (10) than Struijk (26) last season.
Serie A analysts have noted that Muharemovic has a tendency to flick balls on for teammates, rather than always directly at goal. Another point of note is that the Sassuolo ace is more inaccurate with long passing, going by last season’s metrics.
Struijk completed more (89 vs 71) and also had a higher success rate (46.6% vs 39.6%). This equates to Muharemovic completing two out of every five long balls, as opposed to one out of every two for Struijk.
Notable moments
Most recently, Muharemovic played three games for Bosnia & Herzegovina at the World Cup. After returning from a red card suspension against Switzerland, he was the man to be fouled when US attacker Florian Balogun received his red card, which was eventually controversially suspended for a year by FIFA upon an enquiry from US president Donald Trump.
Folarin Balogun was sent off for hsi coming-together with Muharemovic
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Folarin Balogun was sent off for hsi coming-together with Muharemovic(Image: Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Muharemovic was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia and grew up in Austria, but his parents both hail from Bosnia & Herzegovina. He made his international debut in a friendly against England in June 2024. His first international goal, which came a week later, was against Slovenia.
Muharemovic’s younger brother, Kenan, plays for Rapid Wien’s second team in the Austrian second tier. He also has cousins who play lower-league professional football too.
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