Middlesbrough odds-on to snap up Stoke City ace this month
Published:
Middlesbrough have struggled in front of goal since their return to the top-flight, finding the net just 17 times in this Premier League campaign. But they look sure to get a creative boost in this window with the signing of Stoke City’s Bojan Krkic.
The 26-year-old is just 8/15 to join Boro in this transfer window, and his record suggests that signing the Spaniard would be the ideal bit of business for Aitor Karanka’s men.
He’s netted 15 times in 60 games, including four goals already this season, so it’s a real surprise to see him struggling for game-time in the Potteries, having featured in just four of their last 16 league matches.
But while the three-time La Liga winner being kept out of the team by the ageing duo of Jon Walters and Peter Crouch has raised more than a few eyebrows, it’s a situation the Teessiders are ready to capitalise on.
Stoke are believed to be holding out for £12m for the former Spain international, but with Boro having parted with that sum to bring Marten de Roon to the club last summer, it’s unlikely they’ll be deterred by paying an eight-figure sum for a player of Bojan’s quality.
However, they could conceivably be beaten to his signature in the coming weeks, with the bookies making it a 7/1 shot that West Bromwich Albion get their hands on the former Ajax loanee, while a move to David Moyes’ Sunderland is priced up at 10/1.
Middlesbrough face West Ham United on Saturday, with 11/8 for the hosts to enjoy victory at the Riverside Stadium.
Whether they start that game with a certain former Barca ace on the field remains to be seen…
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
