Aro Muric came in to replace Vaclav Hladky (pictured). (Image: PA)
A keeper trade
Following back-to-back promotions to the Premier League, Ipswich decided they needed to upgrade their No.1. They effectively swapped keepers with Burnley as the two clubs swapped divisions.
Vaclav Hladky had turned down a new deal in Suffolk and left as a free agent, subsequently joining the freshly-relegated Clarets in the Championship. Ipswich replaced him with Muric in a deal pegged around £8-10m.
It didn’t ultimately work out for either player. Hladky found himself warming the bench behind James Trafford (who’d been expected to depart Turf Moor) during their watertight promotion campaign of 24/25 and was third-choice behind Martin Dubravka and Max Weiss in the Premier League last season. The 35-year-old now looks set for a return to his native Czechia. We’ll come onto Muric now…
Aro Muric makes a save from Manchester United’s Antony during his time at Burnley. (Image: PA)
Data-led signing
Muric joined Man City at the age of 16, with Pep Guardiola reportedly once telling friends that the Kosovan was ‘so good with his feet he could play at centre-back’.
After a series of loan spells away, he joined Burnley in a £3m deal and played a key role in their 2022/23 Championship title-winning season. Trafford was signed as an upgrade, but the England U21 star was dropped come March as Vincent Kompany’s men battled the drop. Muric stepped in and kept out 80% of the shots he faced – the best save percentage in the entire Premier League – and conceded six fewer goals than were predicted by the xG model.
Ipswich moved to sign him after striking a two-year deal with ‘Goalkeeper.com’ and accessing ‘advanced data intelligence’. A story on their website reads: “Led by Dr John Harrison PhD, Goalkeeper.com’s data team worked with [Ipswich] head of goalkeeping Rene Gilmartin and the recruitment team to identify a goalkeeper best suited to Ipswich’s style of play and the situations they most frequently face.”
Gilmartin said: “Goalkeeper.com data is going to help us make more educated and informed decisions, especially at elite professional level. There’s going to be money involved at this level. There’s going to be investment involved. You want to have as much of the information and knowledge to hand to make big decisions.”
Aro Muric (second left), pictured after letting in a late goal at Brentford. (Image: Ross Halls)
Mistakes add up
The general verdict from Burnley fans, and I’m paraphrasing, is that Muric could go from the sublime to the ridiculous in a heartbeat. For all his big stops, he’d also conceded some dreadful goals against Watford, Everton and Brighton. That theme, unfortunately, continued at Ipswich.
A nightmare debut back at former club Man City saw him pressed on the edge of the box for the hosts’ second and left in no man’s land for their third. He did well to put that behind him with an outstanding MOTM display in a 0-0 draw at Brighton the following month, but a jittery performance in a 4-1 loss at West Ham followed at the start of October.
Letting Bryan Mbeumo’s deep cross bounce past him for Brentford’s heart-breaking late goal in a topsy-turvy 4-3 away defeat saw his reputation and confidence take another major knock. McKenna backed his man and, again, there was a good response with a solid display in a 2-1 victory at Tottenham.
Ipswich captain Sam Morsy (right) pictured with Aro Muric after a 2-1 win at Tottenham. (Image: Ross Halls)
More gaffes followed though. A mad dash off the line kick-started Bournemouth’s late turnaround at Portman Road in early December (again, McKenna backed him publicly), a poor pass out from the back led to one of Newcastle’s four goals on Suffolk soil, while the offside flag spared his blushes at Arsenal after being beaten by Gabriel Jesus from a seemingly impossible angle.
That was the tipping point. Muric was dropped and replacement Christian Walton produced a superb display in a 2-1 home win against Chelsea.
A shot at redemption presented itself when Walton suffered a groin strain. Muric returned between the sticks for a crunch home clash with relegation rivals Southampton in early February but let the opener go straight through him and parried straight into a dangerous area for the winner. It proved to be his 19th and final outing for the Blues. Two days’ later, Ipswich signed Alex Palmer for £2m from West Brom on transfer deadline day.
Aro Muric had off-field issues during his time at Ipswich. (Image: PA)
Off-field issues
One thing data can’t quantify is personality. Muric certainly didn’t seem to fit in with the band of brothers group at Playford Road.
When he sat out Ipswich’s opening day 2-0 home loss to Liverpool, McKenna said it was because of a slight injury. It subsequently came to light that he had been caught driving on his phone and without insurance three days before that big match.
In September, he was one of three players expelled from a Kosovo international camp for allegedly ‘breaking the regulations of the national team established by the manager and the Federation’. Muric says the decision was ‘not fair’ and that ‘rumours were not true’, with McKenna standing by his man.
In March last year, the 27-year-old admitted in a podcast: “I don’t want to sit there one day regretting that I didn’t make it because of stupid things. I think I’m now more mature. We’ll see.”
Aro Muric (right) shakes hands with Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez following a Premier League clash. (Image: PA)
What next?
Muric enhanced his reputation on loan at Italian club Sassuolo last season, helping them to an 11th place finish in Serie A. Such was his form that the likes of Juventus and Valencia were credited with interest.
Last month he said: “I have informed the club that I don’t want to stay here after this season for personal reasons.” This week, Sassuolo triggered their option to buy clause, reported to be $7m (around £6m). It could be that they will look to make a quick profit.
Kieran McKenna often highlighted Aro Muric’s qualities during his time at the club. (Image: Ross Halls)
Overall verdict
This signing is a reminder that data can only tell you so much when it comes to recruitment and highlights the psychological pressures of playing in goal.
Muric, in fairness, was playing behind two new centre-backs. He wasn’t the only one that made mistakes and underperformed in that Premier League relegation campaign. The Blues were always going to be up against it having risen so quickly.
Ipswich, to their credit, found Muric the right loan club and, as a result, have recovered a large chunk of the fee paid.
Hopefully, lessons have been learnt from this major transfer miss ahead of a return to the Premier League.