Bojan Krkic excited by Barcelona responsibility
Barcelona forward Bojan Krkic (‘Bojan’) has today spoken of excitement at having the chance to wear the coveted number nine shirt for his club.
The prestigious shirt, traditionally given to a team’s main striker, was previously in the possession of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. However, with the Swedish forward having departed the Camp Nou to return to Italy with AC Milan, the squad number had once again become available.
Bojan, who revealed that he had dreamed of becoming the Catalan giants’ number nine, did not hesitate in taking the chance to claim the shirt for himself after wearing the number 11 shirt. The 20-year-old was paraded in front of the media with the squad number ahead of Barca’s La Liga clash against Hercules this Saturday.
Despite claiming the number nine shirt and the implied responsibility that comes with it, Bojan will be behind David Villa, who arrived from Valencia for a fee of 40 million euros over the summer and was handed his preferred number seven shirt, in head coach Pep Guardiola’s plans. However, the youngster is hoping that he will be afforded more game time following the departure of Ibrahimovic.
'Great strength'
The Spain Under-21 international was reported by Spanish daily newspaper El Mundo Deportivo as saying that: “I realised that the nine was without an owner for the new season and told [first team delegate] Carlos Naval, who wanted to leave me as number 11. It was all up to me. This shirt does not grieve me. I have worn the number nine for many years at (various youth levels) the club, and since I was put into the first team I have dreamed of having it. I am excited for what it represents. It gives me great strength.”
Bojan added that he had had a good relationship with Ibrahimovic, saying that: “I had a very good understanding with him, and he said goodbye to me.”
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