Sassuolo eye Acerbi return to replace Leeds-bound Muharemovic | OneFootball

Francesco Acerbi could be back in Italian football sooner than expected, with Sassuolo considering a move for the veteran defender.

According to Gianluca Di Marzio, via LaLazioSiamoNoi, the Neroverdi have identified Acerbi as a candidate to fill the hole left by Tarik Muharemovic, whose €40 million move to Leeds United, a club-record sale for Sassuolo, is all but complete.

The Bosnian’s departure leaves a significant gap at the heart of a defence he anchored last season.

MILAN, ITALY – MAY 03: Francesco Acerbi of FC Internazionale Milano celebrates after being confirmed as Serie A champions following victory in the Serie A match between FC Internazionale and Parma Calcio 1913 at Giuseppe Meazza Stadium on May 03, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Acerbi in line for Sassuolo homecoming

For Acerbi, it would be a genuine homecoming.

The centre-back spent five formative years at the Mapei Stadium before leaving in 2018 to join Simone Inzaghi’s Lazio, the move that launched the most decorated stretch of his career, first in Rome, then at Inter, where he won the Scudetto and reached two Champions League finals.

The 38-year-old has been a free agent since his Inter contract expired at the end of June, when he departed San Siro alongside fellow veterans Stefan de Vrij and Matteo Darmian, and had seemed destined to leave Serie A altogether.

A Sassuolo return would instead keep him in the top flight, offering the Neroverdi experience and leadership at no transfer cost while their record windfall is reinvested.

Nothing is agreed at this stage, the idea is described as a hypothesis rather than a negotiation, but the logic on both sides is easy to see.