Miralem Pjanic

Miralem Pjanić (born 2 April 1990) is a Bosnian professional football player who plays for French club Olympique Lyonnais in Ligue 1. He plays as an attacking midfielder and has been described as an "old-fashioned playmaker with huge technical qualities".

Pjanić developed an interest in football through his father, a former third division football player in SFR Yugoslavia, and began his football career in Luxembourg following his family's arrival to the country shortly before the outbreak of the war in Bosnia. In 2004, after an interest from a host of external clubs, Pjanić joined French club FC Metz and made his debut in the 2007–08 season at the age of 17. After a successful season, in June 2008, he joined Olympique Lyonnais on a five-year contract. With Lyon, Pjanić made his UEFA Champions League debut in 2008 and, in the following season, helped the club reach the semi-finals.

Pjanić was formerly a youth international for Luxembourg and represented the national team at under-17 and under-19 level. He played at the 2006 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship scoring the team's lone goal at the competition. In 2008, Pjanić opted to pursue a senior international career with his birth country Bosnia and Herzegovina and made his debut in August 2008. He scored his first international goal two years later in March 2010 against Ghana.

Pjanic was born in the city of Tuzla in Bosnia and Herzegovina, then a part of SFR Yugoslavia. He developed an interest in football through his father Fahrudin, a former football player who had stints at both Jedinstvo Brčko and Drina Zvornik. At the age of one, shortly before the outbreak of war in Bosnia, Pjanić and his family, which consisted of his father, mother Fatima, brother Mirza, and sister Emina, emigrated through Germany to Luxembourg after his father accepted an offer to play football semi-professionally for a club in the Luxembourg Division of Honour.

While in Luxembourg, Pjanić often attended training sessions and matches with his father. At the age of seven, his father discovered that he had the talent and an interest in football and allowed his son to join local club FC Schifflange 95 in Esch-sur-Alzette. While at Schifflange, Pjanić drew interest from several Belgian, Dutch, German clubs, but agreed to join FC Metz in France. Metz had discovered the player through former player and Luxembourg international Guy Hellers. Despite interest from more established clubs, Pjanić's family allowed the youngster to move to Metz due to the club's close proximity to Luxembourg and its excellent reputation for producing youth talent.

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 quarter-finals of the Coupe de France. Metz were eventually eliminated by the eventual champions Lyon. In total, Pjanić made 38 appearances and scored 4 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 on where the young starlet would play the following season with a host of clubs, notably English clubs Arsenal and Chelsea, Spanish clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid, Italian clubs Milan and Internazionale, and French club Olympique Lyonnais vying for his services.