MANCHESTER UNITED have identified a dominant Serie A defender who could be the next Harry Maguire.
United have been scouring the continent for an imposing centre-back as Maguire’s contract runs down to the final few months.
Last January, the Red Devils triggered a 12-month extension to keep the 32-year-old defender at Old Trafford until June 2026.
But his future looks more uncertain this year amid rumours that Italian and Turkish clubs are circling ahead of the summer.
In the meantime, United have recently stepped up their monitoring of Bosnian international Tarik Muharemovic.
Sportsport reports that an Old Trafford spy saw the 22-year-old make his 50th appearance for Sassuolo on Sunday, in a 1-0 league win over Cremonese.
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The Bosnian source states that the scout went away satisfied and that Michael Carrick’s men will make their move soon.
The claim comes less than a month after local sources in Italy revealed that a Red Devils talent-spotter was in the stands for Sassuolo’s 1-1 draw with Bologna.
Muharemovic scored his side’s equalising goal in that game after outjumping the Bologna keeper at a corner, demonstrating the aerial prowess that has attracted United.
The former Juventus defender is good with the ball and in building play from the back, hard to beat one-on-one, and looks every inch a modern defender.
And like current Old Trafford centre-backs Lisandro Martinez and Ayden Heaven, he is left-footed and prefers to play on that side.
Sassuolo are likely to demand in excess of £34million for his services this summer with Juve due a hefty chunk as part of a sell-on clause.
Although he has been capped 10 times by Bosnia and Herzegovina, Muharemovic was born in Ljubljana and spent a good part of his childhood in Slovenia.
He moved with his family to Klagenfurt in Austria and caught the eye of Juventus in 2021 while playing for Wolfsberger.
He spent a couple of seasons in Turin, playing for the youth and reserve teams, before getting a taste of first-team football on loan at Sassuolo in Serie B.
Muharemovic was a mainstay of the club’s promotion-winning side and his switch was made permanent for just £2.5million last summer.
Sassuolo are set to cash in for a huge profit and could drive a hard bargain with United not the only Premier League club to show interest.
Newcastle, Tottenham and Bournemouth, as well as Inter Milan RB Leipzig, are also understood to be keen.
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