Barcelona have been urged to sign Liverpool striker Roberto Firmino instead of Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez by Bojan.
Barca are believed to be closing in on a deal for Argentina international Martinez, who has scored 19 goals in 32 matches this season and has also been linked with Premier League club Chelsea.
But former Barcelona and Stoke City star Bojan believes Brazilian forward Firmino would be a better fit for the Nou Camp outfit.
Firmino has scored 77 goals for Liverpool since arriving at Anfield in 2015 and helped Jurgen Klopp’s side win the Champions League last season and dominate the Premier League this term.
Bojan told Sport: ‘Inter Milan do not usually take the initiative and that makes me think that Lautaro could occupy an area at Barca that is not naturally his.
‘[That is] something that would certainly be a shame.
‘If you allow me a name, I would bet more on Roberto Firmino: a link player, with a lot of presence and great mobility.
‘I do not intend that this reflection be interpreted as a refusal to sign Martinez, but I understand that his profile must be analysed very well because it would be unforgivable that, as happened with Antoine Griezmann, we sign a striker to put him on the wing and then complain that it doesn’t work.
‘That cannot happen again because, although it seems obvious, a nine is a nine.
‘That is his natural habitat and to move him from there is to waste his talent. If Barca need a nine, sign him, but do it to really use him.’
Firmino has developed into one of the best players in Europe over the past few seasons and Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori recently named him as one of his toughest opponents.
‘It has been different for me this season, just because it is the Premier League and it is a step up,’ Tomori told Sky Sports. ‘You have to be more focused and prepared, always alert.
‘In the Championship you have a lot of different strikers – some love it in the air or like to go in behind.
‘But then I’m playing against [Roberto] Firmino and he’s dropping deep into midfield. Things happen a lot faster and mistakes are punished more harshly.
‘Firmino was probably the most difficult [to play against] – along with Salah.
‘Every time they got the ball, I was thinking, “This is a challenge but this is where I want to be – this is a chance to prove that I can play at this level”.’
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