€25m Valuation Gap Ends Juventus Pursuit of Muharemović | OneFootball

Juventus are moving away from a deal to sign Tarik Muharemović, with the club refusing to match Sassuolo’s valuation and Sunderland emerging as a serious contender, reports Get Italian Football News, citing Alfredo Pedullà.

The interest in the 23-year-old Bosnian centre-back was not without logic on Juventus’ side – Muharemović is a former Next Gen player, and the arrival of Giovanni Carnevali from Sassuolo brought a ready-made relationship. Carnevali had travelled to London towards the end of last season precisely to engineer a Premier League move for the defender, and his subsequent appointment at Juventus briefly revived the prospect of a return to Turin. But the numbers have never aligned.

A €25m Gap That Won’t Close

Juventus are unwilling to bid above €15 million for Muharemović, while Sassuolo’s asking price has climbed to €40 million – up from €30 million before Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Round of 32 appearance at the 2026 World Cup. That gap is not a negotiating position; it reflects a structural unwillingness from the Bianconeri to chase a fee that has accelerated beyond their defensive recruitment ceiling. For more on Juventus’s earlier pursuit and the sell-on clause that shaped their original interest in Muharemovic, the background is worth revisiting.

Muharemović’s current contract at Sassuolo runs until June 2031 on a reported salary of €740,000 per year – modest by Serie A standards, which only sharpens his appeal to Premier League clubs happy to absorb a significant fee and offer a wage uplift.

Sunderland Lead the English Chase

Tottenham had been linked but have since committed heavily in defence, including a £52 million acquisition of Jan Paul van Hecke. That leaves Sunderland and Bournemouth as the active suitors, per Luca Cilli. Both clubs will play in Europe next season, and €40 million is an achievable figure for Premier League sides operating at that level of ambition. Sunderland, fresh off a remarkable debut campaign that delivered Europa League qualification, look the likelier destination given their momentum and the platform Régis Le Bris has built at the Stadium of Light.

Juventus’ exit from this race is consistent with a more restrained approach to defensive spending, one that also reflects the competing pressures elsewhere in their squad – context that their ongoing striker market complications only underline further. Muharemović is headed for England; the only question remaining is which club lands him.