Hughes tips Bojan to follow in footsteps of Fabregas
Forward Bojan has made an impressive start to life in English football following his summer switch to the Potters from Barca, emerging as the most exciting element of the Staffordshire outfit’s attack.
And the season so far has also seen some hugely accomplished performances from Fabregas, the former Arsenal midfielder who secured a return to the Premier League in June by leaving Barcelona for Chelsea.
Hughes – once a player for the Catalan club himself – can see similarities between the two.
And ahead of Stoke’s Premier League home clash with leaders Chelsea tonight, the Welshman said: “Fabregas has been a top player for a long time, but in the future, who knows how good Bojan can be? Nobody knows that at the moment, but we are all encouraged by his ability.
“Fabregas is a player I have a great deal of respect for. We had a little set-to one year, but I was really impressed by his behaviour after and I have a lot of time for him as a person and as a player. So I feel there are also similarities between their personalities.
“They are both outstanding players and humble young men as well.”
The “set-to” Hughes referred to came in 2007 after an FA Cup tie between the Blackburn side he was managing at the time and Fabregas’ Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, a turgid 0-0 draw.
Fabregas was said to have made a comment to Hughes at the final whistle questioning how a former Barcelona player could employ such negative tactics in a game.
But having been initially outraged, Hughes was then impressed that Fabregas apologised to him for the run-in.
Recalling the incident, Hughes said: “I don’t think I had any strikers, so I just parked the bus basically. He (Fabregas) wasn’t happy, but he actually hung around until after I had done all my press to apologise, which showed class.”
Hughes admits his Barcelona connections helped him convince Bojan to join Stoke, as did the fact that he had already tried to sign the player when manager at Manchester City.
The deal made for the 24-year-old – with a fee of under £1million – looks to be a shrewd one at the moment, with Bojan putting in a string of eye-catching displays of late.
His combination with lofty striker Peter Crouch helped Stoke pull off a 3-2 victory over Arsenal in their last home game, and Hughes is delighted with what he is seeing from the ’little and large’ pairing.
“It is not quite Toshack and Keegan, because Bojan is a little bit of a different player,” Hughes said.
“But certainly it worked against Arsenal and with the support we had from the wide guys as well, it was a good mix.
“We need to replicate that if we are going to overcome a very good Chelsea side, and that is our intention and hope.”
Bojan sustained a hip injury in last Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace but has trained this week and Hughes expects him to be available to face Chelsea.
Defender Marc Muniesa has recovered from the hamstring complaint which prevented him from being involved in the Palace match, while Hughes is optimistic a knee problem picked up by Stephen Ireland will not rule the midfielder out of tonight’s contest.
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