Spanish Inquisition: Should Bojan Krkic Leave Barcelona?
Goal.com’s KS Leong asks whether one of La Liga’s brightest prospects should take the chance to leave the green, green grass of the Camp Nou to avoid fading into obscurity...
Bojan Krkic is just one of many rising young sensations to emerge from Barcelona’s cantera over the past few years.
But like many blossoming prodigies not named Lionel Messi, he is struggling to break into one of Europe’s powerhouse first teams, filled, as they are, with established veterans and megastars. Despite being relied on heavily by Frank Rijkaard last term, in what was his debut season in the top flight, under Pep Guardiola this campaign, he has been restricted to a miniscule role.
But Bojan, to his credit, has always delivered when called upon. Except for a select few number of games, he has always managed to find the back of the net whenever he’s summoned to the first XI. In seven starts in the Copa del Rey, he has scored four goals; two starts in the Primera Division, two goals; and three starts in the Champions League, three goals.
Even with that quite remarkable ratio, the teenager, however, is simply no match for the Blaugrana’s swashbuckling three musketeers, Messi, Samuel Eto’o and Thierry Henry, who have amassed a combined tally of 55 league goals so far, more than the total scored by every team in La Liga, bar Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.
In spite of the limited playing opportunities, throughout the course of the season the 18-year-old has always stubbornly shot down the idea of leaving the club on loan, while his employers themselves have been quite reluctant to let him scurry away from the nest.
Barca, and maybe even the Serbo-Spaniard himself, seem to hold the belief that to train daily alongside some of the worlds best players but play just a handful of games, is better than playing week in, week out with a mediocre team.
But after his match-winning performance against Almeria last weekend, perhaps the striker is starting to realise that with the right confidence, he can headline any attack, in any team. And he is now reportedly willing to ponder the proposal of going out on loan to acquire more playing time.
At his young developing age, he does need regular first team football in a quality league to mature and hone his craft, especially as a striker. It’s this time, between now and his 21st birthday, which will determine whether he evolves into a good player or a world-class talent.
Barca, understandably, do not want him to leave for fear that if he excels at another club and is turned into an overnight idol, he may not want to come back, just like Cesc Fabregas. The Blaugana are, perhaps, also afraid that their ‘Baby Bojan’ will lose the Catalan spirit or worse, the Barcelona footballing philosophy.
Indeed, going out on loan is a big gamble. The parent club often has no say or control over how, when or where their employee is to be used. A player may come back twice the footballer he was when he left, or he could come back ten times worse.
Just look at Giovani Dos Santos. Of course, the Mexican left Barcelona to join Tottenham Hotspur permanently, but imagine if he were on loan. With the disastrously disappointing season he had at White Hart Lane – injuries notwithstanding – he would have returned to the Camp Nou the following year with his confidence shot to pieces. And I say ‘had’, because he has actually been loaned out by Spurs to Ipswich Town for the rest of the season.
No disrespect to the Championship side, but that’s like Barca shipping Bojan out on loan to Levante. Both teams, by the way, are in 10th place at present in the second-tier of their respective domestic leagues, just in case you were wondering how poor old Levante got dragged into this analogy.
Bojan has no shortage of admirers and suitors. Clubs all over Europe, big and small, have been trying to secure his services, from fallen giants Marseille, Ajax and Red Star Belgrade (now fashionably known even among English-speakers as FK Crvena Zvezda), to this season’s fairytale story, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
Of course, going out on loan overseas to a completely different country at just 18 years of age, could be more damaging than beneficial, especially if it is in the middle of a season. By the time he gets to grips with his new surroundings, team-mates, culture and language, he would have to be on a plane back to Catalunya, ready to pack his blue-and-maroon coloured bags for the next pre-season training camp.
But the fact still remains that Bojan has to leave Barcelona to succeed, either temporarily or permanently. At the rate things are going, he will continue to struggle to crack the first team. Messi has already made the right flank his own until he hangs up his boots in the Camp Nou, Eto’o has rediscovered the joys of scoring and Henry has regained his form and will only get better next term, as he now looks very likely to end his career a Blaugrana.
However, the big question mark hangs around Eto’o’s future and the Cameroonian’s decision over whether to stay or leave Barca could have a huge impact on Bojan’s career. Personally, I think he will stay with the Catalan behemoths, despite the rumours that he is hungry for a pay cheque that will make him one of the best paid footballers on the planet.
Not that Bojan, with his angel-face and his schoolboy looks, could ever wish ill on a fellow team-mate, but his only chance of forcing his way into Guardiola’s plans next season is to see Eto’o leave and hope that his replacement, very likely to be David Villa at this stage, struggles to settle in in his first few months, thus opening up a window of opportunity for himself to prove his worth.
Down the years, there have been countless strikers and forwards who have been heralded as the next big superstar of the future but constantly failed to realise their full potential, or live up to the hype because of this exact situation.
Next season will be critical for Bojan. If he continues to warm the bench, he could turn into another Javier Portillo or Roberto Soldado.
KS Leong, Goal.com
Goal.com’s KS Leong asks whether one of La Liga’s brightest prospects should take the chance to leave the green, green grass of the Camp Nou to avoid fading into obscurity...
Bojan Krkic is just one of many rising young sensations to emerge from Barcelona’s cantera over the past few years.
But like many blossoming prodigies not named Lionel Messi, he is struggling to break into one of Europe’s powerhouse first teams, filled, as they are, with established veterans and megastars. Despite being relied on heavily by Frank Rijkaard last term, in what was his debut season in the top flight, under Pep Guardiola this campaign, he has been restricted to a miniscule role.
But Bojan, to his credit, has always delivered when called upon. Except for a select few number of games, he has always managed to find the back of the net whenever he’s summoned to the first XI. In seven starts in the Copa del Rey, he has scored four goals; two starts in the Primera Division, two goals; and three starts in the Champions League, three goals.
Even with that quite remarkable ratio, the teenager, however, is simply no match for the Blaugrana’s swashbuckling three musketeers, Messi, Samuel Eto’o and Thierry Henry, who have amassed a combined tally of 55 league goals so far, more than the total scored by every team in La Liga, bar Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.
In spite of the limited playing opportunities, throughout the course of the season the 18-year-old has always stubbornly shot down the idea of leaving the club on loan, while his employers themselves have been quite reluctant to let him scurry away from the nest.
Barca, and maybe even the Serbo-Spaniard himself, seem to hold the belief that to train daily alongside some of the worlds best players but play just a handful of games, is better than playing week in, week out with a mediocre team.
But after his match-winning performance against Almeria last weekend, perhaps the striker is starting to realise that with the right confidence, he can headline any attack, in any team. And he is now reportedly willing to ponder the proposal of going out on loan to acquire more playing time.
At his young developing age, he does need regular first team football in a quality league to mature and hone his craft, especially as a striker. It’s this time, between now and his 21st birthday, which will determine whether he evolves into a good player or a world-class talent.
Barca, understandably, do not want him to leave for fear that if he excels at another club and is turned into an overnight idol, he may not want to come back, just like Cesc Fabregas. The Blaugana are, perhaps, also afraid that their ‘Baby Bojan’ will lose the Catalan spirit or worse, the Barcelona footballing philosophy.
Indeed, going out on loan is a big gamble. The parent club often has no say or control over how, when or where their employee is to be used. A player may come back twice the footballer he was when he left, or he could come back ten times worse.
Just look at Giovani Dos Santos. Of course, the Mexican left Barcelona to join Tottenham Hotspur permanently, but imagine if he were on loan. With the disastrously disappointing season he had at White Hart Lane – injuries notwithstanding – he would have returned to the Camp Nou the following year with his confidence shot to pieces. And I say ‘had’, because he has actually been loaned out by Spurs to Ipswich Town for the rest of the season.
No disrespect to the Championship side, but that’s like Barca shipping Bojan out on loan to Levante. Both teams, by the way, are in 10th place at present in the second-tier of their respective domestic leagues, just in case you were wondering how poor old Levante got dragged into this analogy.
Bojan has no shortage of admirers and suitors. Clubs all over Europe, big and small, have been trying to secure his services, from fallen giants Marseille, Ajax and Red Star Belgrade (now fashionably known even among English-speakers as FK Crvena Zvezda), to this season’s fairytale story, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
Of course, going out on loan overseas to a completely different country at just 18 years of age, could be more damaging than beneficial, especially if it is in the middle of a season. By the time he gets to grips with his new surroundings, team-mates, culture and language, he would have to be on a plane back to Catalunya, ready to pack his blue-and-maroon coloured bags for the next pre-season training camp.
But the fact still remains that Bojan has to leave Barcelona to succeed, either temporarily or permanently. At the rate things are going, he will continue to struggle to crack the first team. Messi has already made the right flank his own until he hangs up his boots in the Camp Nou, Eto’o has rediscovered the joys of scoring and Henry has regained his form and will only get better next term, as he now looks very likely to end his career a Blaugrana.
However, the big question mark hangs around Eto’o’s future and the Cameroonian’s decision over whether to stay or leave Barca could have a huge impact on Bojan’s career. Personally, I think he will stay with the Catalan behemoths, despite the rumours that he is hungry for a pay cheque that will make him one of the best paid footballers on the planet.
Not that Bojan, with his angel-face and his schoolboy looks, could ever wish ill on a fellow team-mate, but his only chance of forcing his way into Guardiola’s plans next season is to see Eto’o leave and hope that his replacement, very likely to be David Villa at this stage, struggles to settle in in his first few months, thus opening up a window of opportunity for himself to prove his worth.
Down the years, there have been countless strikers and forwards who have been heralded as the next big superstar of the future but constantly failed to realise their full potential, or live up to the hype because of this exact situation.
Next season will be critical for Bojan. If he continues to warm the bench, he could turn into another Javier Portillo or Roberto Soldado.
KS Leong, Goal.com
