AC Milan Club Focus: Should Bojan Krkic’s Deal Be Made Permanent?

“Bojan is a player liked by Massimiliano Allegri,” Adriano Galliani confirmed to Sky Sport 24 on 28^th August, 2012. The very next day, Bojan Krkic strutted into the Milanello on a season-long loan from AS Roma. This move was to spark a revival in the wonder-kid’s career. The scenario has changed quite drastically since.

The former Barcelona forward has seen limited minutes this season. To be fair to the man who ‘likes’ him, Allegri has tried Bojan in a number of roles. Allegri has played him along the front line and even behind the forward, as a classic ‘10’. But, the little man has failed to justify the flashy labels that outweigh his diminutive stature.

The foremost issue, I think, is that Bojan’s primary position is highly unclear. He likes to play as the centre-forward. But, his physique is too weak to lead the line, and his pace is unsatisfactory to compensate for his lack of physicality.

On the wings, Bojan gets marginalized very often, his decision-making playing villain with disturbing frequency. He has sparkled behind the centre-forward, as he likes to dribble and seeks to find a winger with a killer pass. Yet, consistency of vision remains alien to him.

Bojan’s price tag was set at €15 million by his former employers. Galliani intends to haggle, as he should. Bojan’s disappointing performances do not warrant a hefty price tag, not by any stretch of imagination. Media reports suggest that Galliani is willing to negotiate if Alexandre Rosell and his executives drop Bojan’s valuation by half. Even that, in my opinion, would be a stretch for the youngster’s talents.

Apart from the over-inflated hype, Bojan offers nothing different from anyone else. He can add a bit of verve in the second half, as he runs at defenses and creates angles, but as you can tell, I am clutching at straws.

Bojan seemingly was never part of Allegri’s first-team plans. And if he was, he has firmly etched himself into Allegri’s plans of the past. As of today, Bojan clocks an average of 23.4 minutes per substitute appearance. He has been introduced as a substitute in 15 games, having started only 10 matches so far this season.

His fall needs to be seen in context, to understand the severity of it. Apart from Mario Balotelli and Giampaolo Pazzini being picked ahead of him to lead the line of attack, Bojan is now facing stiff competition from M’Baye Niang, the French starlet being favored by Allegri to deputize for the aforementioned strikers in their absence.

Bojan continues to twiddle his thumbs while being delegated the role of an impact sub. Scoring goals against Siena, Roma and Chievo is insufficient to move up the pecking order, it seems. And rightly so.

WhoScored.Com rates Bojan’s performances as a centre-forward at 6.83, while gives him a rating of 7.72 as an attacking midfielder, or as I previously mentioned, the number ‘10’ in the first team. Galliani recently confirmed that Milan will continue playing in a 4-3-3 next season.

As good as Bojan can be in the hole, 4-3-3 provides no room for a trequartista. His status of a glorified substitute will be retained, and if that be the case, Milan need not invest a sum of money that could otherwise be directed in purchasing a more relevant player, aiding in the fruition of the project.

Follow Rajath Kumar on Twitter @rajathkumar. You can read his work on his AC Milan blog titled Milan and Me; The Love Affair.