Leeds United beat ‘enormous pressure’ to clinch Tarik Muharemovic signing | OneFootball

Leeds United have won the race for Tarik Muharemovic, completing a £34.1million move from Sassuolo last month and handing the 23-year-old a five-year deal, after resisting heavy competition.

“There was enormous pressure from several teams,” said Sassuolo sporting director Francesco Palmieri, speaking to Corriere dello Sport’s YouTube channel. “And then the one that actually wanted the player became clear, and this great deal came to fruition, making the boy happy and everyone happy.”

“For us too, it's a source of immense pride and satisfaction to sell one of our players for a significant fee while giving him the chance to play in the Premier League, which is the dream of many footballers.” Signed to replace Pascal Struijk at left centre-back, Muharemovic drew interest from Premier League rivals Bournemouth and Sunderland, plus Inter Milan and Juventus, after an impressive World Cup with Bosnia.

Elland Road saw a first sustained glimpse in Saturday’s 2-0 pre-season win over RB Leipzig, where he started in a back three with Joe Rodon and Sebastiaan Bornauw. He showed calm defending and a broad passing range, playing close to 90 minutes before Alfie Cresswell replaced him midway through the second 60-minute period.

Leeds face Manchester United at Croke Park in Dublin on Wednesday, another chance for minutes. The game could allow Farke to field his strongest back three for the first time this summer, with Jaka Bijol returning from injury off the bench against Leipzig.

Source: yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”