Leeds United have splashed out £34.1m to sign Tarik Muharemović, a left-footed centre-back bought from Sassuolo to replace the departed Pascal Struijk.
Born in Slovenia, he began his career in Austria but is a Bosnia and Herzegovina international.
The 23-year-old comes off a busy World Cup. Dismissed against Switzerland, his Round of 32 return was mired in controversy, being the player that Folarin Balogun challenged for the infamous red card that Donald Trump interfered with.
Turning to his club career, Italian giants Juventus snapped up Muharemović in 2021, giving him reserve team football until Sassuolo borrowed him for 2024/25. The Neroverdi made his loan permanent upon promotion to Serie A.
FPL POTENTIAL
Muharemović racked up four goals and four assists across two seasons there. But his Fantasy Premier League (FPL) appeal goes beyond this.
As well as a towering 6’4″ presence that suggests aerial dominance, he has a tendency to block and intercept that could be perfect for defensive contribution (DefCon) points.
Sure enough, Muharemović’s latest campaign averaged 10.8 actions per 90 minutes. Of Premier League defenders who played at least 2,200 minutes, only Marcos Senesi, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Maxence Lacroix bettered this amount.
Providing further encouragement, Struijk – the man Muharemović is replacing – was inside the top 20 FPL defenders for DefCon points (26) in 2025/26.
It’s not a bad run of early matches, either, according to our Fixture Ticker. Things turn sour from Gameweek 6 but for those who Wildcard early, there could be a clean sheet or two in this big-six-less run:
Daniel Farke’s side kept four clean sheets in the final eight games of 2025/26. Although they conceded the fifth-most goals overall (56), they were the joint-third tightest at allowing big chances (76).
Purely for his DefCon promise, expect Muharemović to get some pre-season FPL hype.
