Muharemovic arrived at Juventus in 2021, made 33 appearances in his first Under-19 season, played in the UEFA Youth League and then accumulated 57 appearances for Juventus Next Gen. He became vice-captain, earned a first-team call-up and left on loan for Sassuolo in August 2024.
Appearance totals, first-team call-up, contract renewal, vice-captain role and Sassuolo loan are based on official Juventus reporting.
Arrival in Turin
A major move at eighteen
Tarik Muharemovic joined Juventus in the summer of 2021 after only six senior appearances for Wolfsberger AC. The transfer was a clear investment in potential. Juventus were not signing an established top-flight defender; they were bringing a tall, left-footed eighteen-year-old into a development system designed to connect elite youth football with the professional game. The move immediately raised every standard around him. Training quality, competition for places, tactical vocabulary and the daily expectation of representing Juventus all created a new level of pressure.
The transition also required personal adaptation. Muharemovic moved from Austria to Italy, learned within a new language and entered a football culture famous for its attention to defensive detail. A centre-back in Italy is expected to understand not only individual duels but the movement of the entire unit: when to step, when to cover, how to protect the area and how to manipulate an opponent’s pressing shape in possession. He later described the tactical work at Juventus as one of the most important parts of his education, particularly the defender-specific training available inside the club.
Under-19 football
Thirty-three appearances in the first season
Juventus placed Muharemovic with the Under-19 side for the 2021/22 season. The club’s official account records 33 appearances during that campaign, including five in the UEFA Youth League. That workload mattered because it gave him continuity after the disruptive move abroad. Rather than being limited to occasional development matches, he played regularly and learned how Juventus wanted its defenders to interpret different phases of the game.
The UEFA Youth League added another dimension. Facing leading academies from other countries exposes young players to contrasting styles: aggressive pressing, direct attacks, technical possession and fast transitions. For a central defender, those matches demand rapid adaptation. Muharemovic had to read unfamiliar opponents with limited preparation while maintaining Juventus standards. The competition also placed him in a European context, showing how his physical and technical profile compared with players from other major academies.
Italian defending
Tactical detail becomes a daily language
Muharemovic has said that Juventus gave him the chance to learn from Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci and coaches including Massimiliano Allegri and his youth-team staff. The significance was not limited to sharing a training ground with famous names. Elite defenders communicate through details: the angle of the body before a duel, the timing of a step forward, the distance to a full-back, and the choice between attacking the ball or protecting space. Observing those decisions at close range helped turn abstract coaching into visible examples.
He also referred to training designed specifically for defenders. That type of work isolates the moments that decide matches. A centre-back rehearses defending crosses, controlling depth, passing through a press and recovering after the ball moves behind him. Repetition makes the response faster and more automatic. Muharemovic arrived with height, a strong left foot and senior experience; Juventus aimed to organise those qualities within a more complete tactical framework. This education later became visible at Sassuolo, where he could defend large volumes of actions while still contributing in build-up.
The Next Gen bridge
Professional football in Serie C
Juventus Next Gen is central to understanding Muharemovic’s development. The team competes in Serie C, allowing young Juventus players to face experienced professionals every week without leaving the club’s technical structure. Muharemovic moved between the Under-19 side and Next Gen before establishing himself more fully in the professional team. Across his Next Gen spell, Juventus records 57 appearances and two goals. Those matches represented a much more demanding education than age-group football alone could provide.
Serie C tests defenders in varied ways. Some opponents press high, others play directly toward a physical striker, and many matches are decided by set pieces or small tactical errors. Young players must learn to win ugly as well as play attractively. Muharemovic’s first full professional seasons in Italy therefore developed match management: understanding when to slow the game, when to clear danger, how to defend a narrow lead and how to maintain concentration in difficult away environments. These are skills that cannot be learned completely through training.
Setback and return
Learning through interrupted momentum
Development at Juventus was not perfectly linear. An official club preview for the 2023 Serie C Coppa Italia final noted that Muharemovic had returned after a long spell on the sidelines. The public report did not need to define his entire period by the absence, but it showed that he had to manage an interruption at an important age. For a young player, missing time can be as educational as playing. Rehabilitation requires patience, discipline and the ability to stay connected to the team while progress is measured in smaller steps.
Returning to professional competition also tests confidence. A defender must trust his body in contact, aerial duels and changes of direction. He must regain the timing that usually comes from repeated matches. Muharemovic’s later progression suggests that the setback did not break his pathway. He returned, became a more important Next Gen figure and took on leadership responsibility. The period added resilience to a career that had previously moved quickly from one opportunity to the next.
Vice-captain
Responsibility in the 2023/24 season
By September 2023, Juventus described Muharemovic as vice-captain of the Next Gen team. In an official interview before the away match at Ancona, he explained that he felt more mature after learning how professionalism worked in Italy during the previous season. He also said that the vice-captaincy made him responsible for helping teammates arriving from the Primavera, particularly with the mental adjustment to the category. That statement is important because it shows development beyond individual performance.
Leadership for a young centre-back is closely linked to the position. The defender sees the game in front of him and must organise teammates, manage distances and communicate through difficult moments. Muharemovic spoke about the group remaining united despite a poor start to the season and emphasised the need for a positive mentality and a desire to win. Those comments reveal a player learning to represent the team publicly as well as perform within it. The captaincy experience would later support his leadership with Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Under-21 side.
Recognition
Contract renewal and first-team call-up
Juventus renewed Muharemovic’s contract until 2026 in September 2023, confirming that the club valued his progression. A few months later, he received his first senior-team call-up for the Coppa Italia match against Salernitana on 4 January 2024. Juventus highlighted his 33 Under-19 appearances, UEFA Youth League experience and growing Serie C workload when announcing the call. Although a call-up is not the same as a first-team appearance, it placed him inside the senior matchday environment and showed that his Next Gen performances had reached the attention of the top squad.
The call-up also completed an important symbolic step. Muharemovic had joined Juventus as a prospect from Austria and now stood close to the senior team of one of Europe’s largest clubs. He had trained around elite defenders, adapted to Italian professionalism and accumulated genuine professional minutes. The experience strengthened his profile before the next career decision. To keep progressing, he needed regular football at a higher senior level rather than remaining indefinitely within the development structure.
International progress
Bosnia milestones while based at Juventus
The Juventus period overlapped with Muharemovic’s rise for Bosnia and Herzegovina. In September 2023 he spoke about fulfilling a childhood dream by training with the senior national team and sharing the environment with players such as Edin Džeko, Miralem Pjanić and Rade Krunić. He continued as a central figure and captain at Under-21 level before receiving a senior call-up under Sergej Barbarez in 2024.
Muharemovic made his senior international debut against England in June 2024 while still a Juventus player. The moment expanded his experience beyond Serie C and confirmed that his development was relevant at international level. It also increased the need for consistent club minutes. A player entering a senior national-team cycle benefits from facing higher-level opponents every week. The next move had to provide that platform, and Sassuolo’s project in Serie B offered a team aiming for immediate promotion with a realistic path to a starting role.
The loan
Leaving Juventus for Sassuolo in August 2024
On 28 August 2024, Juventus confirmed that Muharemovic had joined Sassuolo on loan until 30 June 2025. The club’s announcement summarised his growth from the Under-19 side to 57 Next Gen appearances, two goals, a first-team call-up and a senior Bosnia debut. The move was not a rejection of the Juventus pathway; it was the intended next stage of it. He needed a senior environment where results, promotion pressure and weekly selection would accelerate his development.
The Juventus years gave Muharemovic an unusually complete education. He experienced academy football, European youth competition, professional Serie C, injury recovery, leadership, senior training exposure and international recognition. Sassuolo would provide the breakthrough, but the player who arrived there had been shaped in Turin. Juventus taught him how to understand defending in detail and how to operate inside the pressure of a major club. Those lessons remained part of his identity after he left.