During his 15-year-long professional career, Kevin-Prince Boateng commanded a combined transfer fee of around $50 million. He’s earned the big bucks in Germany, England, Italy and Spain. But through all those years, he’d always wanted to return to his favourite club Hertha BSC. Today, Prince returns as a pauper.No big news reports, no hysteria from the fans online, no special news bulletins. And no big transfer fees. The 34-year-old midfielder signs for Hertha as a free agent. OFFICIAL: Hertha Berlin have signed forward Kevin-Prince Boateng for free from Monza on a one-year deal. pic.twitter.com/gUg80G3CVt— Transfer News Central (@TransferNewsCen) June 23, 2021 Fourteen years after leaving the Berlin club to join Tottenham Hotspur, Boateng announced his comeback and got a tattoo of the club’s badge on his chest.”It’s no secret that I’d always been eyeing a return to Hertha BSC. The fact that it’s finally worked out makes me very proud. I’m eager to get started, and to play in front of a sold-out East Stand at the Olympiastadion with the lads.”During his career, Boateng has won Serie A with AC Milan, the German Cup with Frankfurt and LaLiga with Barcelona. His career is full of eyebrow-raising transfers. In the past two years, he’s played for European giants Barcelona and for Monza, a team in the second tier of Italian football. The former Germany youth international was hardly able to fulfil his full potential, resulting in him jumping regularly from one club to the next. OFFICIAL: Kevin-Prince Boateng 🇬🇭 ➡️ Hertha BSC 🔵⚪️ #HaHoHe pic.twitter.com/7SOTaPQUB2— RouteOneFootball (@Route1futbol) June 23, 2021 He first came under the spotlight when Spurs brought him to the Premier League in 2007. He didn’t do well but he didn’t try to put the blame on coaches, the English weather nor bad atmosphere. He might have had excuses then, when he was only 20 years old, but these days he admits he didn’t work hard enough.”I didn’t treat football as a job. I was an idiot. I had talent, but I trained the bare minimum, an hour on the field. I was the last to arrive and the first to leave. I’d be out with friends. I had money, I lived like a king. I’d never been to the gym. That changes your later career. I bought three cars in one day when I was at Tottenham: a Lamborghini, a Hummer and a Cadillac. To the youngsters, I tell them: ‘You cannot buy happiness.’ I didn’t play, I had family problems, I was out of the squad. I was looking for happiness in material things: a car makes you happy for a week. I bought three to be happy for three weeks.”Throwback to this ridiculous goal from Kevin-Prince Boateng against Barcelona 😱 📽 @UEFAcom_de pic.twitter.com/ZL9ABGiLb9— Football Tekkers (@BallTekkers) November 23, 2020 In search of more game time, Boateng left Tottenham in the winter of 2009 for Borussia Dortmund, where, during a six-month loan, he showed more glimpses of his potential under the guidance of Jurgen Klopp. Unfortunately, the Germans did not have sufficient funds sign Boateng on a permanent transfer, leaving both the player and his coach devastated.”Had Dortmund qualified for Europe at the time, they would have bought me. Klopp called me personally and told me that they couldn’t resolve the situation. I was very sad about that and the normally tough Prince cried. At the time, I guessed that something big could happen in Dortmund, so I wanted to stay. But it wasn’t meant to happen. For Klopp, I would even have gone to China!”A move to then-Premier League team Portsmouth followed, but, as it usually went with Boateng, it proved underwhelming. His occasional glimpses of class were enough for the great AC Milan and their eccentric owner Silvio Berlusconi to take a gamble on the Ghanaian in 2010. And it paid off. Sort of.In his second AC Milan spell in 2016 (©Gallo Images)Some wonderful goals and a Scudetto were the rewards, but another return to Germany followed with Schalke. His stay with the Royal Blues didn’t last long because his contract was terminated for poor discipline and behaviour around the club. Typical. A few more club changes came for Boateng, with the biggest one being a short-term Barcelona loan. The Catalans needed a backup forward so they took the option to sign Kevin-Prince. However, he’d only made five appearances for the club.”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 2019/20 season then saw him kick things off with Fiorentina, before he made another winter move, this time joining Turkish giants Besiktas. Having played for seven clubs in the space of just six years, Boateng’s value clearly took a hit and in September this year he agreed a one-year deal with Serie B side Monza, teaming up again with his admirer Berlusconi. He’s had a decent season playing alongside Mario Balotelli, but it ended in heartbreak with a promotion final defeat. Boateng was free once again. Boateng playing for Monza (©Gallo Images)And this time, he didn’t wander around but returned home. He’s still Prince, but he’s a bit humbler now. Like a pauper. There’s no more glamour nor buying multiple luxury cars in a day. Just home and football.
