Photo credit: AFP

Stoke City’s Spanish striker Bojan Krkic has signed a new four-and-a-half-year contract, the Premier League club announced on Thursday.

Bojan, capped once by Spain, signed from Barcelona in July 2014 and made an encouraging start to life at the Britannia Stadium, only to be struck down by a serious knee injury in January last year.

But the 25-year-old returned in August and has played an important role in Stoke’s season, scoring five times to take his overall tally for the club to 10 goals in 41 appearances.

“I am very happy and motivated,” Bojan told the Stoke website. “Stoke City gave me the opportunity to play in the most competitive league in the world, the Premier League, and I have only words of gratitude for their trust and for the way they have treated me since the first day I arrived to England.”

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Stoke chief executive Tony Scholes said: “Bojan has made no secret of the fact that he now regards Stoke as his home in a football sense.

“When he joined us he made it clear that he wanted a period of stability in his career. It’s obvious that he has found what he was looking for with us and we’re understandably thrilled he has signed a long-term contract.”

Stoke are currently 11th in the Premier League and visit Bournemouth on Saturday.