Bojan Krkic has been in and around the Barcelona first team squad since he was a teenager.
In fact he made his debut for the Blaugrana at 17 years 19 days. However he seems to be failing to become the player he was expected to be.
The youngster has struggled to get into the Barcelona team this season due to the presence of Lionel Messi, Pedro and David Villa.
Big
In any other team he would be a first team regular but those three are three of the best attackers in world football.
He has the pressure of filling the boots of one of those big three whenever he takes to the field in a Barcelona shirt.
Because of the success of Messi, Villa and Pedro he gets unfairly compared with the trio. He is younger than his fellow strikers and hasn’t had the same experience. Barcelona though have unbelievably high standards and it seems some Barca fans don’t seem to think he has the quality required.
You wouldn’t blame him if he was to get frustrated with just occasional starts and substitute appearances. The striker has started just four La Liga games this season and came off the bench 16 times.
Long-term
Bojan signed a new long-term contract in December. So Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola obviously thinks he is good enough. Whether he just considers him to be a squad player or a real part of his future plans remains to be seen.
The Catalan side are currently unwilling to part with the 20 year-old, as a €100million buy-out clause in his contract suggests. However they could be willing to loan the youngster out next summer.
Premier League
According to reports this morning a host of Premier League clubs are chasing the youngster’s signature. The likes of Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester City have been linked with a summer move for him.
He has also been linked with a move to Arsenal as part of a deal for captain Cesc Fabregas. The striker has also recently told the clubs TV channel that he is a big fan of the English top flight.
Development
A loan move to the Premier League wouldn’t do the Spanish international any harm. In fact it could be a good move for his development as a player. He is young and I’m sure he is now at the stage where he wants to play as much football as possible.
Playing in the Premier League is a good experience for any young footballer hoping to make it to the top of the game. It’s certainly a more physically challenging environment than La Liga and he needs to work on that side of his game.
Squad
He is still part of the Barcelona squad chasing every piece of silverware available. With Barcelona still in the race for La Liga and Champions League Pep Guardiola will have to rotate his squad and maybe he will get more time on the pitch later on in the season.
From now until the end of the season Bojan needs to start fulfilling his potential. Unfortunately I don’t currently believe he is good enough for the Barca starting eleven. He does have the potential to be a very good player.
Whether he develops to be good enough to play for Barcelona regularly is a harder question to answer. He burst onto the scene as a teenager and everybody was expecting big things from him. He hasn’t quite yet delivered but at 20 years old he still has plenty of time to go on and become a good player in the future.
Is Bojan good enough for Barcelona?
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