Sheffield United: How Anel Ahmedhodžić is drawing on Mbappe and Messi experience to help Blades' promotion push

The Bosnia and Herzegovina international defender has experience of playing club football in four different countries at the age of just 23, facing some of the world’s best forwards already in his formative career.

A loan spell at Bordeaux presented the unenviable task of keeping Mbappe, Messi and Neymar quiet at the Parc des Princes while international and Champions League football has exposed Ahmedhodžić to the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Paulo Dybala and Artem Dzyuba, Zenit Saint Petersburg’s 6ft 6in forward.

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“Of course, the experience can help,” the popular defender told The Star. “Playing against a big striker like Olivier Giroud, a small, fast striker like Mbappe, even Dzyuba at almost two metres tall. You have to learn to adapt and defend against these types of players.

“You can’t let them pin you or impose themselves on you. If they’re strong you can, for example, stay a metre away from him and then attack the ball. So different stuff, you learn from experience. This sort of thing, you can work on in training. But you can’t be good at it until it comes to the games.”

With all respect to the Championship, one of the most competitive divisions in world football, Ahmedhodžić is unlikely to face such world-class skillsets in English football’s second tier. But the wealth of experience such exposure has offered him can prove a useful weapon in his armoury – and that of his teammates.

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“If I see something that can help a teammate, I will tell them,” Ahmedhodžić added, noting the help that Chris Basham has offered him since his return to English football despite being brought in to effectively compete for his position.

“Obviously he [Basham] has more experience than me but sometimes I can maybe point out something to him or other players. We help each other out. I have given them pointers and they have helped me as well. It’s give and take.”

Like most football-minded people on the planet, Ahmedhodžić – who recently announced he and his partner Marijana are expecting a child – will be settling down to watch the World Cup when it begins this weekend, with Messi looking to finally lift the trophy in what will be his final tilt at the world stage with Argentina.

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“I think I was pinching myself when it happened,” Ahmedhodžić admitted, referring to Bordeaux’s defeat at PSG back in March. “I’ve been watching him for as long as I can remember and to play against him was a dream come true. I love Messi but he wasn’t at his level and when he is, he’s from another planet. But I don’t think he was in form then.”

It was then suggested to Ahmedhodžić that perhaps he kept one of the greatest footballers ever to play the game quiet. A self-depreciating smile spread across the United defender’s face. “Maybe,” he laughed.

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