Stoke City face strong competition in their pursuit of Barcelona youngster Bojan Krkic, with Olympiacos said to be the front-runners.
Having reportedly been hoping to complete a loan deal for Barcelona’s Bojan Krkic, Stoke City now could miss out on the out-of-favour forward to Olympiacos.
Former Barca player Mark Hughes had previously used his contacts at the Spanish club to sign defender Marc Muniesa, and was looking to pull of another coup this summer with the addition of the once-promising frontman.
However, with Deportivo La Coruna another club entering the race, the lure of Champions League football with the Greek champions, who boast a strong Spanish core in their current side, appears set to win out.
With the 23-year-old’s contract expiring after this season, Olympiacos are willing to contribute €1.5 million towards the player’s wages, although Barca are also said to want a fee for what would be a season-long loan, offering a possible lifeline for Stoke if they can stump up on the financial front.
Formerly considered one of the brightest young talents in Europe, Bojan made his first-team debut for Barca in 2007, aged just 17, going on to score 41 goals in 162 games over the next four campaigns, while winning three La Liga titles and two Champions League winner’s medals.
Failing to live up to his lofty expectations however, the 23-year-old was sold to Luis Enrique’s Roma in 2011, before the Barca legend’s sacking saw him sent out on loan to AC Milan for 2012-13, after just one season in the Italian capital.
Returning to his boyhood club last summer, after a buy-back clause in his contract was exercised, Bojan was promptly sent out on another season-long loan to Ajax, but failed to thrive with the Eredivisie champions as expected, his career again in limbo entering this offseason.
Once hailed as “the next Messi”, the La Masia product still possess undoubted potential but whether he will ever be able to realise it remains to be seen, regular competitive football in a top league being a good first step.
Stoke could certainly offer the youngster that, as they bid to improve upon last season’s impressive ninth place Premier League finish by instilling more quality into the squad, but Hughes will now need pull out all the stops over the coming days if they want to secure his services.
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