Leeds United transfer news: Whites spend big to land Pascal Struijk replacement
Leeds United have paid the second biggest transfer fee in their history for a player inadvertently involved in the biggest controversy of this summer's World Cup.
Tarik Muharemovic, the man fouled for Folarin Balogun's controversial red card, has joined on a five-year contract.
As a left-footed central defender, Muharemovic effectively replaces Pascal Struijk in the squad, but for the money they are paying, Leeds will be hoping he represents an upgrade.
Although the fee is undisclosed, it is believed to be £34.1m.
Only when they signed Georginio Rutter from Hoffenheim in January 2023 for a deal worth up to £35m have Leeds paid more for a player.
If last summer was about fleshing out their squad with the depth needed for a return to the Premier League, this summer’s transfer business is more about quality than quantity, with Leeds looking for players who can take them forward, knowing that to stand still would probably end in relegation.
Sloveninan-born and raised in Austria, Muharemovic represented Bosnia Herzegovina at this summer’s World Cup.
He was shown a red card in his country's second game of the tournament, for bringing down Breel Embolo when clean through on goal. Switzerland exploited it to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 4-1 win.
But Muharemovic returned for the last-32 game against USA, where former Middlesbrough forward Balogun was red-carded for raking his studs down the defender's Achilles. Although the red card stood, Balogun's one-match ban was suspended after an intervention from American president Donald Trump.
Muharemovic came through the youth system at Wolfsberger but was picked up by Juventus as an 18-year-old. They loaned him to Sassuolo in 2024, and he joined permanently a year later after helping them to the Serie B title. Juventus had a 50 per cent sell-on clause which probably partly explains the high transfer fee.
At 6ft 4in tall, Muharemovic is a physical presence, though he only scored twice for the Neroverdi. He played as a left-sided centre-back at Sassuolo, and in the middle of a three when Bosnia switched to that formation for their final World Cup game.
A Bosnian youth international, he made his senior debut against England two summers ago.
Muharemovic is only Leeds’ second signing of the summer, after free agent Harry Wilson.