Newcastle Faces Outrage Over Dedić Injury
Newcastle United’s treatment of Amar Dedić has come under sharp scrutiny after the Bosnia and Herzegovina defender was ruled out of international duty with a serious hamstring injury that his national coach believes should never have happened.
Dedić had started brightly at St James’ Park, settling quickly into life on Tyneside and looking every bit the modern full-back Bosnia hoped would anchor their right flank for years. Then came Millwall in the Carabao Cup earlier this month, and with it the first warning sign: a hamstring issue that forced him onto the radar of the medical staff.
Newcastle’s camp were optimistic. Too optimistic, in the eyes of those now watching from Sarajevo.
Despite that initial problem, Dedić was selected for the following Premier League fixture against Leeds United. It was a gamble. It did not pay off. He lasted just 58 minutes of the defeat before signalling he could not continue, trudging off with an injury that has now cost both club and country.
From Bosnia’s perspective, that was the moment everything changed.
Barbarez’s blunt verdict
At his press conference in Sarajevo, national team boss Sergej Barbarez did not bother to dress it up. He laid the blame squarely at Newcastle’s door, arguing that the defender’s latest setback could have been avoided with a more cautious approach.
Barbarez explained that the damage sustained against Leeds was “greater than before”, a clear escalation from the original strain picked up against Millwall. In his view, the call to play Dedić in that league game has directly led to his absence from the current international window, where Bosnia face Poland, Romania, and Sweden in a demanding Nations League schedule.
“If he had rested that game, he would certainly be with us now,” Barbarez said, before delivering the cold numbers: Dedić is expected to miss three to four weeks and will not feature in any of Bosnia’s four upcoming matches.
For a coach trying to rebuild a national side’s identity, losing a key defender in this manner stings. Losing another rising talent on top of that is a hammer blow.
Busuladzić suffers devastating setback
The bad news did not end with Dedić. Barbarez confirmed that young midfielder Kenan Busuladzić faces an even more brutal road back.
Busuladzić has torn his cruciate ligaments and will be out for around nine months, a near season-long absence that rips a promising option out of Bosnia’s midfield rotation. The manager did not sugar-coat it, describing it as a major loss at a time when every piece of emerging quality feels precious.
For a squad already walking a tightrope between experience and raw potential, two such injuries in quick succession shift the entire balance of the camp.
New faces drafted in
Barbarez has responded by reshaping his squad on the fly. Four players have been called up to plug the gaps and inject energy into a bruised group: Benjamin Tahirović, Ajdin Hasić, Arjan Malić and Luka Durić.
Durić’s inclusion stands out. The Paderborn player has been making steady progress in the German second tier, a step forward in his club career that has not gone unnoticed in Sarajevo. Barbarez wants to see him up close, to judge whether that development can translate to the international stage and turn him into a long-term piece of Bosnia’s puzzle.
The message is clear: injuries may have ripped holes in the original plan, but this window will still be used to test, to experiment, to find out who can carry the shirt when the stakes rise again.
Alajbegović scare eases
Not every medical update was bleak. There was at least one sigh of relief when it came to Juventus talent Kerim Alajbegović.
The midfielder had sparked fresh concern when he was withdrawn at half-time of Juventus’ recent clash with Atalanta, raising the spectre of yet another absentee. Barbarez moved quickly, speaking with both the player and the club’s medical staff in Turin.
The diagnosis brought a rare slice of good news: Alajbegović is dealing with a minor hip issue, nothing more. He is already en route to Sarajevo and may only need a day or two of rest before rejoining full training.
For Bosnia, that matters. In a camp suddenly defined by who is missing, keeping one of their brightest young prospects available feels like a small but significant victory.
The bigger question lingers over Tyneside. As Dedić begins another spell on the sidelines and Bosnia reshuffle without him, Newcastle’s handling of his return from that first Millwall injury will remain under the microscope. In a season where every decision on player welfare is magnified, how many more clubs can afford a misstep like this?
