Kevin-Prince Boateng

Kevin-Prince Boateng (German: [ˈkɛvɪn ˈpʁɪns boaˈtɛŋ]; born 6 March 1987) is a football manager and former player who is the coach of the Australian national team in socca.

Coming through the youth system, Boateng began his career at Hertha BSC, before joining Tottenham Hotspur in England. After a short loan spell with Borussia Dortmund, Boateng moved to Portsmouth. In 2010 he joined Serie A side AC Milan, winning both the league and Supercoppa Italiana titles in his first season. Boateng left Milan after three seasons, returning to Germany joining Schalke 04. In January 2016 he returned to Milan, remaining for six months, before moving to Spanish club Las Palmas. Boateng made his third return to Germany in 2017, playing for Eintracht Frankfurt, before joining Italian side Sassuolo. After a short loan to Barcelona, with whom he won a La Liga title, he moved back to Italy, joining Fiorentina. In January 2020 he was sent on a six-month loan to Turkish side Beşiktaş, and in September 2020 he moved to Monza.

Boateng represented his country of birth internationally at youth level; he opted to represent Ghana at senior level 15 times between 2010 and 2014—scoring two goals—and represented them at the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups.

Club career

Reinickendorfer Füchse

Boateng started his club career with the club Reinickendorfer Füchse in early 1994 at age six prior to signing for Hertha BSC on 1 July 1994, at the age of seven, first playing for them until 31 July 2007, when he was 20 years old.

Hertha BSC II

After emerging from the Hertha feeder teams, Boateng played for Hertha BSC II for two seasons. He was promoted to the Hertha first team squad in the 2005–06 season.

Hertha BSC

Boateng made his first team debut in a 2–0 win against Eintracht Frankfurt in the second round of the 2005–06 Bundesliga season on 13 August 2005, at the Olympic Stadium, being brought on at the beginning of the second half.

Boateng was awarded the Fritz Walter Bronze Medal Award in the Under-18 category in 2005. Boateng started his first Bundesliga match in a 2–2 draw against Borussia Mönchengladbach in the 14th round of the Bundesliga season.

On 27 July 2006, Boateng was awarded the Fritz Walter Gold Medal in the Under-19 category.

Tottenham Hotspur

Boateng signed a four-year contract with Tottenham Hotspur in July 2007 for a reported £5.4 million, securing him ahead of UEFA Cup holders Sevilla. His success at the club was limited, and he was loaned to Borussia Dortmund in January 2009 for the remainder of the season.

Borussia Dortmund (loan)

He made ten Bundesliga appearances during his loan, but was forced to miss the final two matches of the season for a suspension of four matches imposed by the German Football Association (DFB) following a tough challenge and "no-nonsense flying kick" to the head of VfL Wolfsburg's Makoto Hasebe.

Dortmund were eager to sign Boateng permanently at the end of the season, but financial constraints prevented them from doing so.

Portsmouth

English Premier League club Portsmouth signed Boateng on a three-year contract in August 2009 for a reported fee of around £4 million. On 12 September 2009, he scored his first goal for the club against Bolton Wanderers, and was named Portsmouth's joint Player of the Month. He finished his only season at the club with three goals in 22 Premier League games as they were relegated amidst financial disarray.

In May 2010, Portsmouth played Chelsea in the FA Cup Final, which Chelsea won 1–0. Boateng had his penalty for Portsmouth saved in the 54th minute, four minutes before Didier Drogba scored Chelsea's winning goal. During the match, Boateng fouled Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack, injuring Ballack's ankle and ruling him out of the impending 2010 World Cup. Boateng claimed that Ballack slapped him in the face prior to this, and that he apologised to Ballack personally for the tackle which left him injured.

Boateng called the German media and the German national team players hypocrites for backing Ballack while ignoring his slap on the pitch. Boateng also criticised Joachim Löw for protecting Ballack after he slapped striker Lukas Podolski in a Germany national football team training match the previous year.

Genoa and AC Milan

On 17 August 2010, Boateng transferred to Italian Serie A club Genoa on a three-year contract for €5.75 million, (a reported €5.7 million plus the transfer of Anthony Vanden Borre, despite the latter deal falling-through) and then immediately joined AC Milan on loan. The deal later became a co-ownership deal in the same transfer window for €5.25 million. Milan signed Boateng permanently from Genoa in June 2011 for €7 million on a four-year contract due to expire in June 2015.

On 23 October 2011, Boateng came on as a half-time substitute against Lecce and scored three goals in 14 minutes. Milan had been 3–0 down at half-time, but went on to win the game 4–3. Boateng is only the second player in the history of Serie A to score a hat-trick after coming on as a substitute. The hat-trick was the fastest in Serie A since David Trezeguet scored a ten-minute hat-trick for Juventus in 2001.

On 3 January 2013, Milan was playing Italian Lega Pro 2 side Pro Patria in a mid-season friendly when Boateng and several other Milan players were the targets of racist chanting from a section of the Pro Patria crowd. Boateng reacted by kicking the ball into the stands before leaving the pitch, and was followed off by his teammates. The match was subsequently abandoned. His decision to walk off the pitch was later backed by various players and commentators.

On 20 February, Boateng scored the opening goal for Milan against Barcelona in the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg, which Milan went on to win 2–0. In August 2013, he was quoted as saying he had changed his style since signing for Milan, from playing primarily as a defensive midfielder to adopting the role of trequartista.

Schalke 04

On 30 August 2013, Milan announced that Boateng had been transferred to German Bundesliga club Schalke 04 for a €10 million transfer fee on a four-year contract due to expire in June 2017.

Boateng made his debut for Schalke 04 in a 2–0 victory against Bayer Leverkusen. On 14 September 2013, he scored the winning goal for Schalke 04 in a 1–0 win over Mainz 05. On 30 October 2013, Boateng was voted the Schalke 04 player of the month for October 2013 by fans. On 9 November 2013, Boateng scored two goals against Werder Bremen; Schalke 04 won the match 3–1. Boateng scored seven Bundesliga goals over the season as Schalke finished in third place.

On 11 May 2015, Boateng, alongside Sidney Sam and Marco Höger, was suspended indefinitely from the club in the aftermath of a defeat against 1. FC Köln as a result of poor behaviour which claimed to have led to the club's poor domestic performances.

His contract with Schalke was terminated on 8 December 2015.

Return to Milan

As Schalke 04 terminated his contract in December 2015, Boateng re-joined Milan on 5 January 2016, on a free transfer and signed a six-month contract. He was training with Milan since his suspension in September 2015. He made his official return debut on 9 January 2016, playing 36 minutes against Roma in a 1–1 draw and scored his first goal in his first match back at the San Siro six days later against Fiorentina in a 2–0 win.

On 25 May 2016, club owner Silvio Berlusconi announced Boateng's departure, along with those of Alex, Philippe Mexès and Mario Balotelli.

Las Palmas

On 2 August 2016, Spanish La Liga club Las Palmas announced that they had reached an agreement with Boateng for his signature following his release from Milan. He made his debut on 22 August 2016, in a 4–2 away win against Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium. On 24 October Boateng scored a goal against Villarreal which was regarded by some pundits as one of the best goals of La Liga that year.

On 16 August 2017, Las Palmas announced that Boateng had cancelled his contract by the club by mutual consent, citing "irreversible personal reasons" for the decision.

Eintracht Frankfurt

On 18 August 2017, Boateng completed his move to Eintracht Frankfurt on a three-year deal, where he won the DFB-Pokal.

Sassuolo

On 5 July 2018, Boateng signed with Sassuolo on a three-year deal.

Barcelona (loan)

Boateng joined Spanish La Liga club Barcelona on 21 January 2019, on loan until the end of the 2018–19 season, with the club holding an option to sign him permanently for an €8 million transfer fee. He had joined the Catalan side to serve as a backup for Luis Suárez after Munir El Haddadi was sold to Sevilla. The transfer made him the first Ghanaian ever to represent the club. He made his club debut on 23 January, in a 2–0 away defeat to Sevilla in the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarter-finals.