Meet the Bosnian ‘bad boy’ Everton are so keen to snaffle
Published:Blink and you may well have missed Bosnia’s maiden voyage into World Cup finals football, as after two opening defeats the interest surrounding the Balkan nation waned rapidly.
Nevertheless, Everton’s scouting network clearly weren’t phased by the early demise as the Liverpool Echo reports that 21-year-old Bosnia international Muhamed Besic is close to arriving in a £4m deal.
Never heard of Besic before? That is highly plausible unless you had money riding on Bosnia at this year’s tournament.
After all, he’s due to arrive from Hungarian outfit Ferencvaros not Barcelona or Real Madrid.
In fact, it’s fair to say the youngster deployed to man-mark Lionel Messi during Bosnia’s Group F curtain-raiser against Argentina hasn’t taken the conventional route towards joining a top-six Premier League club.
A centre-back turned defensive midfielder born to Bosnian parents in Berlin, Besic signed for Bundesliga staples Hamburg as a fresh-faced 16-year-old back in 2009.
However, after making his first competitive start in November 2011, Besic ended up falling out with manager Torsten Fink in spectacular fashion.
Reported issues over discipline saw him suspended by the club in the spring of 2012, before Ferencvaros came to the rescue the following summer.
Luckily for Besic, his left-field move to Hungary and apparent attitude problem didn’t prevent his talent being overlooked by national team coach Safet Susic – who picked him for the qualifiers and subsequently in Brazil.
Everton fans who missed his displays in Brazil can be reassured that his skill and driving runs from midfield were among the most positive elements of a poor points return for the debutants.
According to WhoScored.com he was more than capable in possession among such exulted company, finishing the tournament with an uber impressive 91 percent pass completion rate.
Should he sign, Besic’s first game for Everton could arrive against newly-promoted Leicester, where the Toffees are slight 23/20 favourites to claim the spoils on the opening weekend.
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