Miralem Pjanic joins Sharjah from Barcelona in UAE Pro League’s biggest coup in years

SHARJAH, United Arab Emirates: Another day, another eye-catching ADNOC Pro League addition. It is not hyperbole, however, to describe Miralem Pjanic’s decision to swap Barcelona for Sharjah as the division’s boldest move in a decade. The cultured Bosnia and Herzegovina midfielder’s switch — on a lucrative two-year contract, with a one-year option to extend — is a statement of intent designed to reverberate far beyond the UAE’s borders. Fabio Cannavaro, Luca Toni and David Trezeguet were the last imports of similar prestige to the four-time Serie A winner. This move is a tier above that of fellow Sharjah recruit Paco Alcacer and champions Al-Ain’s standout pre-season addition, Andriy Yarmolenko. Such is its profile, that football transfer doyen Fabrizio Romano chronicled Pjanic’s journey to feverish reaction on social media. Regulation ADNOC Pro League rumors do not usually register on the unremitting Italian’s radar.

النجم " بيانيتش " ينضم لقلعة المــلك

#نادي_الشارقة pic.twitter.com/k4oK1tZ2aL

— Sharjah نادي الشارقة (@SharjahFC) September 7, 2022

Domestic opponents Al-Ain and Al-Jazira have been put on notice that being a runner-up is not enough for The King. So, too, have Saudi Arabia and Qatar’s finest if they make it into the reformatted 2023-24 AFC Champions League. This is the kind of limitless ambition required to justify last November’s lavish hire of relentless title winner Cosmin Olaroiu to manage Sharjah. The administration has truly produced a premium replacement for Otabek Shukorov. It would be naive to paint the entire picture as positive. Pjanic, who was bombed out of Barcelona a year ago by unimpressed head coach Ronald Koeman, has been an unused substitute in all four La Liga games this term and last