Bojan’s loan move from Stoke City to Alaves has been a disaster both on and off the pitch.
With no goals or assists for the Spanish club, they tried to force him out during the January transfer window. Alaves wanted to bring in new players but needed to get wages off their bill.
Bojan was told he wouldn’t be playing for the club and was asked to leave, but he didn’t want to go and didn’t have any options anyway. Having already represented Stoke this season, FIFA rules forbid a third club and with Potters not pushing for a return, there was no alternative route.
The 27 year old was allowed back into the Alaves team at the weekend and got 16 minutes in a 2-1 victory over Celta Vigo.
After the match he spoke to Mundo Deportivo, and commented on his January situation: “The truth is that it wasn’t an easy situation to know that I couldn’t play because of a club decision, something like that had never happened to me. But I quickly put everything into training, even if I did not play, so that this situation did not beat me.
Bojan is a thoroughly likable footballer yet it can sometimes feel he’s detached himself from the pressure to actually produce on a pitch.
That he feels so long as he has the right attitude, tries hard in training, and continues to be a nice bloke, everything else is secondary.
To a club paying his wages, or at least a percentage of them, and not feeling he’s helping much in a relegation battle… it’s different. Alaves were likely out of line in January, but their frustration is understandable.
Asked whether he’ll be returning to Stoke in the summer, Bojan said: “Now I am very happy in Vitoria. The first few months I didn’t enjoy it the way I wanted but now there are three more months to try to change that feeling. I’m very happy here and when the season ends we’ll see.”
Mundo Deportivo put it to Bojan that Marks Hughes is no longer manager: “That isn’t so important. Stoke is the club where I have given the most because I felt very comfortable there, the fans love me a lot and it’s a special place for me.”
