He signed the following morning. Six million pounds to Villarreal. A fraction of what China had offered. But it was not about the money. It had never been about the money. It was about the story. And Pato had decided that his story was not over yet.
While I was in Spain, Freedman was at the bet365 Stadium in Stoke. The Bojan deal had been in the works since that same morning in my office, the morning of the Island of Misfit Toys, the morning I had told Marcus about two fallen angels in two different countries, both written off.
Marcus had grinned and said I was building something mad. I had told him there was a difference between mad and brilliant. Now Freedman was closing it. Two million pounds. For a player whose technical ability was still, by any serious measure, elite. Bojan Krkic became a Crystal Palace player before my flight home had even landed.
