You cannot resolve every match at 19 years old. Adin Licina is discovering this — and discovering just how physically demanding Italian Serie B football is, even in the challenges and the duels. But none of that diminishes what has already been an extraordinary opening to his loan season at Cremonese. Against Cesena, in a 2-2 comeback draw, he may not have been decisive with a goal or an assist on this occasion — but a single moment of pure technique on the touchline, a first touch of absurd difficulty executed with effortless nonchalance, became viral in minutes. The clip spread across Italian social media and far beyond. Licina’s name is circulating not just within Italy — but across Europe, and across three national football federations who are waiting for an answer he has not yet given.
The Germany Question — a New Cycle Under Klopp, but Competition Is Fierce
Licina was born in Germany and has represented the country through every youth category from Under-15 to Under-17 and through to the Under-19 European Championship — albeit without the continuous involvement his quality merited. He was a regular presence in the German youth system, in the same fashion as his Juventus teammate Kenan Yıldız followed the Turkish youth pathway before committing to the senior Azzurri alternative. The parallel is obvious and instructive.
The Germany senior team now enters a new era under a coach of the most extraordinary profile — Jürgen Klopp, whose name alone guarantees the project a degree of global attention and personal excitement that few national team appointments can match. It is, as Tuttosport’s Stefano Lanzo acknowledges, an interesting project. The problem for Licina is positional: the competition for a left-sided attacking role in a Klopp Germany is fierce and established. A player who is a talent rather than a certainty risks spending the years of his peak form warming a bench that offers the most glamorous scenery in world football but the least personal satisfaction.
Montenegro — the Adžić Connection
His family comes from Montenegro — the same national identity shared by Vasilije Adžić, his fellow Juventus loanee who is currently at Sassuolo. The Montenegrin national team represents a more accessible route to senior international football, with significantly less competition for positions. But Montenegro’s footballing stature does not carry the same weight as Germany’s — and for a player with Licina’s evident ambition, the ceiling matters as much as the certainty.
Bosnia — the Most Intriguing and Most Pressing Pursuit
The development that has most accelerated in recent days is the renewed and intensified interest from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Bosnian federation had made soundings before the World Cup and has now returned with increased urgency following the opening weeks of Licina’s Cremonese loan. The vision being sold to him is compelling: a Bosnia whose offensive identity is already being shaped around his Juventus teammate Kerim Alajbegovic — born in Germany, as Licina was, but already committed to the Bosnian shirt from youth level onwards. Bajraktarevic of PSV Eindhoven, who followed a similar path from the American youth system to the Bosnian senior side, provides another template.
The Bosnian dream, as Lanzo frames it, is the combination of Alajbegovic and Licina as a twin attacking threat from wide areas — a creative partnership between two German-born attackers of Balkan heritage that would give Mirel Ajdinović’s national team something genuinely distinctive and genuinely exciting to build around.
A Decision Whose Time Is Approaching
The international window that follows this weekend’s fixtures will not necessarily force a definitive choice. But the window’s approach brings the question closer. A player of Licina’s qualities and national eligibility options — Germany, Montenegro, Bosnia — cannot postpone the decision indefinitely. Juventus, whose summer Adžić story already includes the observation that two of their most promising loanees share Bosnian heritage, are watching with interest. Whatever shirt Licina ultimately chooses, the Juventus thread running through his story will not change. He remains their player. He returns at the end of the season. And the national team dimension, whichever direction it takes, can only enhance the profile of an asset the club is already beginning to believe will one day be central to their future.
