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Pep Guardiola, now Bayern Munich manager, tells a pertinent story of Bojan Krkic, Stoke City’s effervescent winger.
FC Barcelona had just won the UEFA Champions League in the volumity of the Stadio Olympico in Rome. Guardiola had masterminded this particularly venerated victory against the formidability of Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United. Howls of celebration emanated from the Barca dressing room, the sound of the removal of cork from alcohol especially prominent. Barca, after a rugged, arduous season, had reached nirvana.
Bojan Krkic sat sullenly, though, staring into oblivion as his colleagues partied. An un-used substitute, Bojan wanted more. Bojan wanted action, the thrill of gracing a European Cup final. He felt he was good enough. The whole of Catalonia did.
Potential unfufilled at Barca
He was their golden boy, the La Masia graduate boasting potential of gargantuan proportions. The Spaniard had been touted, at a particularly young age, as a promising prospect, one for the future, the first of Barca’s next generation of Messis, Xavis and Iniestas. Even in some quarters of Catalonia, Linyola in particular, his Catalonian hometown, he was widely regarded as ‘The Next Messi’, the next big thing, Barca’s next centrepiece. The main attraction.
Bojan, they said, would rewrite history with the Blaugrana, as Barca’s prodigal son. Perhaps he will do so with Stoke City, his new home in the humble surroundings of Stoke-on-Trent. With the rain, and the freezing chill, it is quite different from his earlier surroundings, but Bojan doesn’t mind.
What perturbs him most, though, is fufilling his immense potential at Stoke, vindicating Guardiola’s faith in him during his stay at the Camp Nou. It was his dribbling competence, propensity to ride challenges and unleashing the power and skill of his right foot which endeared him to the Barca elite, simultaneously mesmerising the Camp Nou. The profile is less glamorous here, at the Britannia, but for Bojan, it is considerably beneficial.
Nomad
It was the dearth of suitable game-time which convinced Bojan to move elsewhere, embarking on a lifestyle bordering on nomadic. The winger registered 104 appearances in four years at Barcelona, principally from the substitutes’s bench, prior to pursuing alternative challenges. An inspiring €12 million move to the Italian Serie A and AS Roma followed, which saw him gracing Italy’s top-flight on 33 occasions and scoring 7 goals.
Soon enough though, in bizarre fashion, Bojan was offloaded on loan to rivals AC Milan with 19 league appearances secured. He was clearly struggling to find home.
The desperate search continued, in a return to the Camp Nou and Barca worth €13 million. His desire for increased playing time was patently clear, when he offered an ultimatum to the Barca management, culminating in a one-year loan spell at Ajax. Conversations with Johan Cruyff and the prospect of gracing the Champions League influenced Bojan’s judgement.
He aspired for great things, helping Ajax to their 33rd Dutch Eredivise title.
Home in humble surroundings
Bojan’s search for stability gathered pace in the summer. His move to Stoke was a shock, an occurence which, at first, seemed infeasible, but Bojan is vindicating Mark Hughes’s belief.
His goal at White Hart Lane, the first of Stoke’s dispatching of Tottenham Hotspur, embodied his talent. Receiving Steven N’Zonzi’s pass, Bojan surged forward, swerving beyond Kyle Naughton, speeding past an allignment of Tottenham midfielders. The intelligent movement of Mame Biram Diouf created the opening for Bojan, the striker distracting the Spurs defence, and Bojan’s reaction was almost instinctive, delivering an accurate and precise strike into the bottom left corner.
A goal that Messi would be proud of.
Yet Bojan’s aspirations are of augmented grandeur. His next target is Anfield and Liverpool on Saturday, as he looks to assert his La Masia excellence upon the Premier League once more.
