File this one under, “didn’t expect to ever see this happen.”
Stoke City have pulled off a major coup by signing the player known around the world as “the new Messi” back when he exploded onto the scene as a teenager.
Bojan Krkic has signed for Stoke on a four-year deal from Barca, as Potters boss Mark Hughes has used his connections at one of his old clubs to great effect.
The Spanish international, who came up through Barca’s famed La Masia academy, is looking to kick start his career in the Premier League after spending the last three seasons away from Barcelona on loan. Since 2011 he has spent a season at AS Roma, AC Milan and Ajax but has now left the Catalan outfit for good after making his debut as a 17-year-old way back in 2007.
Speaking about the acquisition of Bojan to Stoke’s website, Hughes was delighted that the 23-year-old chose the Potters to further his career.
Okay, Bojan’s career hasn’t quite kicked on the way he would have hoped in the last few seasons, but his quality is undoubted and the diminutive attacker will have fans at the Britannia Stadium on the edge of their seats every time he touches the ball. Bojan played four seasons for Barca from 2007-11, with his tricky feet and Lionel Messi-esque drawing plenty of comparisons with the Agrentine star, before heading out on loan for three-straight seasons. At the Nou Camp he scored 41 goals in 162 games and won two UEFA Champions League titles and three La Liga crowns.
Like we said, Stoke signing him is a surprise and a real coup.
Whilst on loan Ajax last season you began to see the Bojan of old return as he helped the Amsterdam club win the Dutch title. His teenage years are beyond him, and he will now be at the center of Stoke’s plan to kick on from a ninth-place finish in the PL last season. That was their best ever PL finish in history and Hughes has turned them from being a team who favor long balls to a side who like to spray it around on the floor. In his second season in charge of Stoke, Hughes is making moves.
After Mame Biram Diouf, Steve Sidwell, Phil Bardsley and Dionatan Teixeira, Bojan becomes Hughes’ fifth-signing of the summer as the Potters look to continue their climb into the upper echelons of the Premier League standings.
With Bojan on board, anything is possible. What a signing.