5

Muhamed Besic

Player Stats

Appearances
54
Goals
0
Assists
0
Yellow cards
12

Muhamed Besic arrived at Everton in the summer of 2014 after impressing for Bosnia and Herzegovina at the World Cup in Brazil.

Aged 21 at the time, the versatile right footer was ever present as Bosnia made their first finals appearance, though they failed to emerge from a testing group that contained Nigeria, Iran and eventual tournament runners-up Argentina.

However, Besic shone on the global stage, turning in a particularly impressive performance against the Argentines on what was his first competitive start for his country.

A former Under-21 international, he had earlier become Bosnia’s youngest senior international when turning out against Slovakia aged just 18 in November 2010.

Born in Germany to Bosnian parents, Besic played youth football for Tennis Borussia Berlin and signed for Hamburg aged 16. There he made a number of appearances for the club's 'B' team, before moving to Hungary to join Ferencváros in 2012.

He was named the best foreign player in the Hungarian top flight in his first season and also helped the Budapest-based outfit to victory in the Hungarian League Cup.

Besic continued to be a key figure for manager Thomas Doll's first team before completing his move to Goodison Park at the end of his second campaign.

He played predominantly as a defender during the initial phase of his club career but Besic's ability on the ball and aptitude for reading the game made him a sound fit for a deep-lying midfield role.

Indeed, it was in midfield where Besic was utilised in his first two years at Goodison. He made 31 appearances in 2014/15 and followed up with 17 more the following season as hamstring problems took effect.

Still, Besic’s no-nonsense, tough-tackling, displays quickly won him favour on the Gwladys Street.

One particular performance against Manchester City in the Capital One Cup semi-final first leg, when he subdued Yaya Toure, earned much acclaim from Evertonians.

In March 2015, it was announced that Besic had inked a new five-and-a-half year contract with the Toffees.

After a promising pre-season under Ronald Koeman, Besic suffered anterior cruciate ligament damage in Wayne Rooney’s testimonial game against Manchester United in August 2016.

The midfielder helped Everton Under-23s secure the Premier League 2 title towards the end of 2016/17 as he looked to regain full fitness but, while he was named among the substitutes for the final couple of first-team games, did not make a senior appearance in the campaign.

In January 2018, Besic joined Championship club Middlesbrough on loan for the remainder of the season. He impressed at the Riverside and rejoined the Teessiders in August for the 2018/19 campaign.

He made 37 Championship appearances that term as Boro finished the season just outside the play-off positions in seventh place.

Another season-long loan followed in 2019/20 as Besic joined newly-promoted Premier League side Sheffield United.

He played 13 times for the Blades, starting six matches and scoring once, in an FA Cup win at Championship Millwall.

Besic's two Premier League starts for Sheffield United came inside a 23-day period and both were against Manchester City.

Contracted until: June 2021.