Madrid line up one of Europe's leading free-kick takers

Real Madrid are set to bid €45m (£33m) for Roma midfielder Miralem Pjanic, according to Gazzetta dello Sport.

Pjanic, 25, has been in irresistible form for the majority of the last 12 months and has developed into one of the finest free-kick takers on the continent.

However, the Bosnia and Herzegovina international still has three years left to run on his current deal at Roma and is focused on life in Serie A for the rest of the season.”

“In this moment I’m concentrated only on Roma,” Pjanic is quote as saying by Sky Sports.

“We are still in the race for the Scudetto and we must play the Champions League last 16 [against Madrid]. For this reason, my departure is impossible."

No many players have been able to take free-kick duties off Cristiano Ronaldo, but it would be hard, even for Ronaldo, to prevent Pjanic from taking deadball opportunities.

In fact, no player has scored more free-kicks across Europe’s top five leagues than Pjanic in 2015 (4), furthering his statistically calculated strength of ‘direct free-kicks’.

For more stats on Miralem Pjanic, click here to visit his WhoScored player page