Miralem Pjanić

Miralem Pjanić (born 2 April 1990) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for UAE Pro League club Sharjah and the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.

Pjanić started his professional career at Metz being there for one season.

Pjanić was born on 2 April 1990 in Tuzla, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, in what was then SFR Yugoslavia (modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina); to father Fahrudin Pjanić and mother Fatima.

He developed an interest in footballing through his father, a former third division footballer in Yugoslavia, and began his football career in Luxembourg following his family's arrival to the country shortly before the outbreak of the Bosnian War.

While in Luxembourg, Pjanić often attended training sessions and matches with his father.

At the age of seven, his father discovered that he had talent and an interest in football and allowed his son to join local club FC Schifflange 95 in Schifflange.

While at Schifflange, Pjanić drew interest from several Belgian, Dutch and German clubs, but agreed to join Metz in France in 2004.

Pjanić was recommended by former Metz player and Luxembourg international Guy Hellers.

Pjanić joined Metz at age 14 on a youth contract and spent approximately three years in the club's academy.

In the 2005–06 season, he played on the under-16 team that won the Championnat National des 16 ans and, following the season, signed a five-year élite contract with the club.

After spending the 2006–07 season with the club's under-18 team, Pjanić was promoted to the club's amateur team in the Championnat de France Amateur for the 2007–08 season.

He appeared in the first two matches of the campaign before earning a call up to the senior team by manager Francis De Taddeo.

Pjanić made his professional football debut, at the age of 17, on 18 August 2007 in a league match against Paris Saint-Germain.

He appeared as a substitute in a 0–0 draw.

The following week, he earned his first start in a 2–0 defeat to Rennes.

After a string of respectable appearances, on 30 November 2007, Pjanić signed his first professional contract agreeing to a three-year deal, tying him to Metz until 2010.

After becoming professional, he was assigned the number 15 shirt.

Pjanić scored his first professional goal for Metz on 15 December 2007 in a 2–1 defeat against Sochaux converting on a penalty in the 88th minute, thus becoming one of the youngest players to score a goal in Ligue 1 history.

Among his other positive performances included converting another penalty in a 2–1 loss to Nice and scoring on the final day of the season against Le Mans in a thrilling 4–3 victory.

Pjanić's play in the Coupe de France was with distinction as well appearing in and starting all four matches the club contested.

He assisted on several goals in the club's 6–1 demolition of Vesoul Haute-Saône.

In the ensuing round, Pjanić scored the final goal in Metz's 3–0 triumph over Strasbourg and played the full 90 minutes in the club's 1–0 win over Lorient in the Round of 16 helping the club who were, at the time, struggling in domestic play, reach the quarterfinals of the Coupe de France.

Metz were eventually eliminated by the eventual champions Lyon.

In total, Pjanić made 38 appearances and scored 5 goals with Metz.

For his efforts, he was nominated for the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year award, won by Hatem Ben Arfa.

Though Pjanić was in great form throughout the season, Metz still suffered relegation back to Ligue 2, prompting speculation that the young star would move to any of a host of clubs, with English clubs Arsenal and Chelsea, Spanish clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid, Italian clubs Milan and Inter, and French club Lyon vying for his services.

He signed for side Lyon in 2008 before signing for Roma in 2011 after three seasons at Lyon.

A former Luxembourg youth international, Pjanić made his senior international debut for Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2008, earning over one hundred caps and scoring eighteen goals since.

After Metz received numerous offers for the player's services, on 6 June 2008, Pjanić and Metz both reached an agreement with Olympique Lyonnais for the transfer of the player.

Pjanić agreed to a five-year contract, while the transfer fee was priced at €7.5 million plus future incentives.

Labeled as the future replacement for the ageing Juninho, Pjanić was initially given the number 12 shirt, but switched to the number 18 for pre-season and made his club debut in the team's Trophée des Champions defeat to Bordeaux.

He made his league debut in the opening league match of the season against Toulouse playing the entire match in a 3–0 victory.

Pjanić's debut season with Lyon was cut in half after fracturing his fibula in a match against Sochaux in October 2008, as a result of a bad tackle by Stéphane Dalmat.

Despite initially being diagnosed as missing a month, he missed two months and made his return on 3 January 2009 in the club's 6–0 thrashing of amateur club US Concarneau in the Coupe de France playing 66 minutes.

He represented the nation at their first major tournament, the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

In 2015, Pjanić was ranked 55th in The Guardian's list of "The 100 best footballers in the world".

During his time in Rome, Pjanić came to be recognized as one of the best midfielders in Serie A. In 2016, Pjanić joined Juventus, and has since been considered an integral player for the team, winning four Serie A titles, two Coppa Italias, and being named in the Serie A Team of the Year for 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18 and 2018–19 seasons.

He was also named in the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season, for his role in Juventus's run to the final.

In 2019, he was ranked 50th in the same list.

Pjanić joined Barcelona in September 2020.