maxim88news
Bosnian talent
©IMAGO
Italian football has always been heralded as the perfect finishing school for young defenders. Whether it be Cristian Romero, Achraf Hakimi or Riccardo Calafiori, some of the best defenders in European football have learned their trade in Serie A. And, according to fresh reports, another young defensive star in the making could be set to depart the league after showing his qualities. Whether it be news articles in England or Italy, Sassuolo’s 22-year-old central defender Tarik Muharemović has been linked with moves to Newcastle, Bournemouth, Inter Milan and most recently Manchester United. So who is the young Bosnian talent and how good is he?
| Rumour | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
T. Muharemović |
 |
||||||||
| Centre-Back | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
How well has Tarik Muharemović played in Serie A this season?
After coming through as a young talent in Austrian football, Muharemović made a free transfer to Juventus in 2021 and spent the next three years playing in the Turin club’s youth teams. He then joined Sassuolo on loan last season when they were playing in Serie B and helped the club win promotion to the Italian top-flight last season, which resulted in the Italian minnows making his move to the club permanent in the summer for €3 million. And since then Muharemović has gone from strength to strength in Serie A. “He had already shown good confidence and technical ability as a modern defender in Serie B,” noted Transfermarkt’s Serie A expert, Stefano Bounfino, when asked about Muharemović’s progress over the last 18 months. “He confirmed this in Serie A, even against top clubs and great strikers. He made a few mistakes, but this is understandable for a centre back of this age playing in a newly promoted team. He has found great consistency and his place in the starting lineup has never been questioned.”
What are Tarik Muharemović main attributes as a central defender?
Indeed, the 22-year-old talent has certainly established himself as a regular starter for the Serie A side, featuring in 85% of the available league minutes to date. And due to him thriving against far better players in the top-flight, the Bosnian defender’s market value has shot up from €1.2m when he left Juventus to where it now stands at €14m. That makes Muharemović the second most valuable player at Sassuolo and the fourth most valuable Bosnian player in the world. But what exactly is it that makes him such a talented player? “He is very physically solid, especially strong in aerial duels where he can use his height and anticipation skills to his advantage,” said Bounfino, when asked to describe Muharemović’s main attributes. “He is determined, knows how to read passes and anticipates plays. He also has good footwork and is not afraid to break away from the defense to participate in the attacking phase when appropriate.”
Could Tarik Muharemović join Manchester United?
Such performances and abundant talent have clearly drawn a huge amount of interest towards the young defender, who will almost certainly depart Sassuolo for far more than his current market value. According to Transfermarkt information, Juventus do hold a notable clause in Muharemović’s contract that means they are entitled to 50 percent of any future fee, which means Sassuolo will demand a high transfer fee to compensate for that. But would a move to the Premier League make sense for the young defender at this point in his career? Bounfino isn’t convinced, especially if it leads to Muharemović heading to Old Trafford.
“Finishing this season could help him, changing league and country during the season would risk breaking the consistency he has found and take away his certainties,” noted the Serie A expert. “However, much depends on the team he would eventually join: Man Utd have shown a certain inclination to ruin talent and have lacked defensive continuity for some time, which cannot be blamed solely on the defenders. It would be more interesting if he were to go to Arsenal, where Mikel Arteta has shown to like defenders with good footwork, often using centre backs as fullbacks. However, competition would be fierce in North London, and last season in Serie B Muharemović suffered a bit during a period in which he was not in the starting 11, even if he managed to retake his place in it.”
Whether Muharemović will be tempted by an offer from Man Utd in January or may hold out for another English club in the summer remains to be seen. And reports in Italy also suggest that the likes of Inter, AC Milan and even his former club Juventus may be keen on signing him before clubs with deeper pockets in England start taking the young talent seriously. But for now, Muharemović remains a Sassoulo player and will continue impressing in Serie A as he likely develops into the league’s next top defensive star.
