Juventus seal deal for Bayer Leverkusen' Kerim Alajbegovic

The highly-rated 18-year-old spent the 2025-26 season on loan with RB Salzburg and helped them finish third in the Austrian Bundesliga. He played 44 times for Salzburg last season, including several times in the qualifiers for the UEFA Champions League.

His stock continued to grow with Bosnia and Herzegovina at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where he scored a spectacular goal against Qatar in the group stage that was nominated as one of the goals of the tournament.

Alajbegovic began his career at the FC Koln youth academy before joining Leverkusen. He has been held in high regard for a couple of seasons already and was sent out on loan in order to gain professional first-team experience.

"Following his time with us in the youth ranks, Kerim has recently made great strides again whilst at Salzburg," said Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes in a statement.

"At the same time, we had to be realistic about the fact that competition within our squad is very fierce, particularly in his preferred positions.

"Against this backdrop, and taking into account the overall terms of the transfer, we have agreed to his move to Italy.

"The fact that a player from our youth academy has moved to a club like Juventus once again highlights the outstanding work carried out by our academy.

"We wish Kerim all the best for the future."