Great Expectations – Bojan Krkic

Former Barcelona starlet Bojan Krkic certainly isn’t your archetypal Stoke signing, yet it wasn’t long before the Spanish forward acclimatised to his unfamiliar surroundings at the Britannia. Beyond a five-match bedding in period, Bojan flourished in behind a central striker, bagging four goals in his subsequent 11 league starts.

Unfortunately, Bojan’s season was cut short near the midway point after he sustained knee ligament damage during a 4-1 FA Cup win over Rochdale where the Potters playmaker was again amongst the goals. As he closes in on a return to action, we’ve high hopes for his Fantasy potential in the season ahead…

Key Factors

• Bojan has spent the last few months undertaking a rehabilitation program back in Spain in an attempt to ready himself for pre-season. After missing the final 16 Gameweeks of the previous campaign, the La Masia graduate is confident he’ll recover in time for Stoke’s opener against Liverpool. Crucially, Bojan believes Hughes’ decision to not deploy him on the wing (his enforced role during loan spells at Roma and AC Milan) is the chief reason why he’s thriving in the Premier League, having netted all his goals last term while playing in “the hole”:

“I feel good. It’s been four and a half months from that knee injury. Now I’m enhancing muscle tone and I hope to return in time for the start of the season. Before the injury I was playing with continuity in a competitive league – and thanks to Mark Hughes finally I was used in my role, not like in Italy. I am a striker or at least a playmaker behind the front man, certainly not a wide man. But with Rome and Milan, I was only playing on the wings. I can do it, I did do it, but it’s not the same thing.”

• Bojan struggled to make an instant impact upon his arrival at the Staffordshire club, chalking up just five appearances (three starts) and delivering zero attacking returns during the opening 10 Gameweeks. The Potters’ 2-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur in Gameweek 11 proved to be a turning point for the Spain international, with his penetrating run from the halfway line and resultant 25-yard shot alerting naysayers to his obvious potential. Bojan then went on to score against Arsenal, Everton and Leicester City in his subsequent 10 starts, inspiring Stoke to victory in all four of those matches. Add an assist against Burnley into the equation, and Bojan was directly involved in 41.7% of Stoke’s goals over that stretch.

• Considering that Bojan’s winner against Everton came through a spot-kick while Mame Biram Diouf and Jonathan Walters were on the pitch, it appears that the Spaniard tops the penalty hierarchy. Bojan’s attacking potential from set-pieces is boosted further by his involvement with corners and free-kicks – between Gameweeks 11 and 22, no Stoke player took more corners (19) than the former Roma man.

• Finishing the campaign with a relatively paltry tally of 59 points, Bojan looks set to remain around the 5.5 mark. It’s unclear whether he’ll be classified as a midfielder or forward next season, but the presence of Diouf, Peter Crouch and new boy Joselu in Stoke’s forward ranks could shift the balance towards the former, bearing in mind Hughes prefers a more robust figure for the lone striker role.

• While Bojan’s attacking output in the number ten role garnered most of the attention, it’s worth noting that he also excelled from a playmaking perspective. Among all forwards that registered at least ten appearances last season, only Bobby Zamora (one every 37.4 minutes) could better the Stoke forward’s average frequency of key passes (one every 48.3 minutes). Moreover, Bojan ranked sixth among Stoke’s full roster with regards to total key passes (26), despite clocking just 1255 minutes – a clear sign of how crucial his creativity could be for Hughes’ side next time out.

• The fixtures are also in Stoke’s favour as Hughes looks to build on last season’s ninth-placed finish. According to our season ticker, the Potters are ranked top for ease of schedule over the opening 11 Gameweeks, with four kind home matches (WBA, LEI, BOU, WAT) allied with trips to the likes of Norwich, Villa and Newcastle.