Kevin Prince Boateng at Barcelona : One of football’s weirdest transfers

Kevin Prince Boateng at Barcelona : One of football’s weirdest transfers

The January transfer window of 2019 gave us a real shock indeed. It was no surprise that Barcelona were looking for a back up striker for the aging Luis Suarez, who could not afford to play every game. The Catalans were on the hunt for a treble after all. The club did not want to spend too much on a backup option because Suarez was still expected to play majority of the games. The names of Carlos Vela and Christian Stuani were heavily featured in the media and looked like the likeliest options.

Fast forward to 21st January 2019 and the Kevin Prince Boateng was unveiled to the fans. KP had played for 9 clubs before Barcelona and he was a well known name in the footballing world. However, he wasn’t exactly the sort of player you’d expect to see at Barcelona. The fans and even the player himself was shocked upon his arrival to Barca. The Prince did have an interesting career to his name. His stints at Hertha, Tottenham, Dortmund and Milan all showcased his talent but his attitude problems became his biggest hurdle. His attitude problems caused him to be let go by multiple clubs during his career. Despite that, Barca coach Ernesto Valverde asked the fans to keep an open mind in this case.

There really isn’t much to write about his career at Barcelona. He only made 4 appearances for the club and played only 303 minutes in total. He failed to register a single goal or assist in this time. He did miss a couple of chances. That’s all there is to write in this case.

Barcelona did end up winning the La Liga title that season though so KP did manage to walk away with something from this whole affair. The club however lost the Copa Del Ray final 2-1 to Valencia and infamously got knocked out by Liverpool in the Champions League semi finals.

Despite all this, Boateng still had many positive things to say about the whole situation. He spoke about the experience following his departure and said,

“It was a lovely experience in Barcelona, working with the best in the world, but it wasn’t very satisfying. At my age, it was worth it, as at least I can say that I played at Camp Nou alongside Lionel Messi."

The player moved on to Fiorentina next season while Barcelona managed to sign Antoine Griezmann in the 19/20. If there is one thing to be learnt from this entire affair, it’s to never panic. Unfortunately, the Barcelona board learnt this a little too late.