news-engine

Tarik Muharemovic's 13-word Leeds United message as defender reacts to Elland Road debut The £34m summer signing got his first taste of a Leeds United home crowd on Saturday. Leeds United defender Tarik Muharemovic admits he couldn’t have been more ‘proud and happy’ to make his Elland Road debut against RB Leipzig on Saturday. The Bosnian got his first taste of a home Leeds crowd during Saturday’s 2-0 win, starting alongside the equally-impressive Joe Rodon and Sebastiaan Bornauw. The West Stand closure prevented Elland Road from reaching full capacity but 24,630 fans produced a great pre-season atmosphere. And they were treated to another strong Leeds performance, with goals in either half from Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Lukas Nmecha capping off a great day. Leeds were also organised and solid defensively, with Muharemovic at the heart of things until his second-half substitution for Alfie Cresswell. The 23-year-old looked so comfortable on the left of a back-three you’d be forgiven for thinking he’d been a regular in West Yorkshire for years. But this was indeed his home debut and in a post on Instagram, he wrote: “Hello Elland Road! Can‘t be more proud and happy to be here! MOT”. Leeds fans will hope Saturday’s performance is a sign of things to come from Muharemovic, with the defender looking right at home inside Elland Road. He was rarely troubled by a Leipzig attacker, reading the game so as to never be out of position, and once again showed a great range of passing. That wasn’t the only impressive defensive performance either, with fellow starters Bornauw and Rodon also keeping a Champions League Leipzig at bay. The latter even got a chance to show his attacking quality with a few bursts down the right, one early run leading to him crossing for Calvert-Lewin’s opener. Daniel Farke will also have been pleased to welcome back Jaka Bijol, who until Saturday hadn’t featured in pre-season due to a minor issue. The Slovenian replaced Bornauw at the end of the first 60-minute period and played the full second hour, some of which saw him feature alongside new teammate Muharemovic. The pair will hope to get more minutes together on Wednesday when Leeds take on Manchester United at Croke Park in Dublin. Farke’s side then host FC Augsburg at Elland Road on Saturday before kicking off their Premier League campaign at Nottingham Forest on Saturday August 22.