Man Utd’s answer to William Saliba? Approach confirmed for January target

Robin Bairner

1 Jan 2026 11:03 GMT
10 min read

Transfer rumour, Tarik Muharemovic, Man Utd — © IMAGO

Manchester United are circling for one of Serie A’s breakout stars of the season in the form of Tarik Muharemovic.

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United’s interest in the Sassuolo centre-back has been confirmed by the club’s president, though the Red Devils have been warned that they face competition from Bournemouth and leading Italian sides Inter Milan and Juventus for the 22-year-old Muharemovic.

With Ruben Amorim’s side light on central defensive options as Leny Yoro is struggling to find his best level and Harry Maguire has been out injured and is expected to leave when his contract expires at the end of the season, the Red Devils have turned their eyes towards the Bosnia international, according to Gazzetta Di Modena.

“We’ve already had some approaches. Not from Bournemouth, but from Inter, yes, but there are no official requests. Bologna also asked me about Muharemovic the other night,” Sassuolo president Giovanni Carnevali said.

Current ETV

Tarik Muharemovic

D (C)

Sassuolo

Tarik Muharemovic

D (C)

Sassuolo

ETV Range

€7.8M - €10.6M

Interest confirmed: but how much will he cost?

Muharemovic is unlikely to come cheap for Man Utd, particularly with Sassuolo apparently ready to put a Premier League tax on the player, whose Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) stands at €9.6 million.

“We don’t have a price tag for Tarik right now, because a lot depends on who asks us for him. He has great potential, so it’s normal that if a big club comes along, we’ll listen to him. But then we also have to find a replacement,” the Sassuolo supremo told Tuttosport.

But it’s not all bad news for the Red Devils, who have been told that the Serie A club could be willing to cut a deal to them if the player makes it clear they are his preferred option.

Carnevali added: “We don’t necessarily have to sell Muharemovic. We want to develop him. I had already sold Locatelli to Arsenal, but he preferred Juventus, and we chose to accommodate him by giving up a little extra money.”

How good is Tarik Muharemovic?

Muharemovic has been one of Serie A’s standout centre-backs this season, with data analytics firm SciSports placing him firmly among the leading players in this role based on its analysis of hundreds of in-game data points.

In terms of his playing style, he is similar to Arsenal centre-back pairing William Saliba and Gabriel, who are regarded as the gold-standard players in the position currently.

Clearly, Muharemovic has some way to go to become as good as these stars but commands only a fraction of the price tag. However, there would be some risk to making such a deal. SciSports doubts that Muharemovic will be able to make it to the very top, with Ayden Heaven regarded as having a higher ceiling than him at present.

Nevertheless, for the right price, this is a deal that looks well worth cutting.

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