Wonderkid Bojan guiding Barcelona’s next generation

Bojan Krkic has experienced a lot of the highs and lows that football has to offer, from getting hyped up as the next big thing to getting a serious injury that hurt his chances of reaching heights that he might have been able to.

The former Barcelona wonderkid is now using that knowledge to help guide the next generation of stars, getting them ready for both the positive and the negative.

He is back at the Barcelona club where he began his career by serving as a football co-ordinator, with his main focus being La Masia, the youth academy he graduated from.

Bojan stated on the BBC Radio 5 Live’s Euro Leagues podcast that while I’m 34 years old, I could still play football because sometimes you have to make life decisions, so I decided to stop and begin a new career in football.

There are many things to do in this big club right now, including coordinate all the young players who come to practice with us, evaluate these young players, and have them have some difficult conversations when they are injured or whatever.

Bojan is the ideal coach for aspiring footballers in many ways.

While it would be an honor to be compared to one of football’s greatest, he was once dubbed “the next Lionel Messi,” which also has a high standard of expectation.

After scoring 900 goals for the Barcelona youth teams, he made his first-team debut at the age of 17 years and 19 days, breaking the record set by Messi.

In his first senior football season, he scored an impressive 12 goals, adding to the comparisons made with the Argentina star.

But for Bojan, he did not want to be the next Messi – only Bojan.

” I knew what player I was, “he added.

I was aware of the positive aspects of my situation and the tasks I had to complete. I knew I was not Messi or anyone, I was Bojan.

“But when people demand for you to be at that level, it is difficult to live with that expectation.

Bojan’s career appeared to be skyrocketing.

In February 2008, only a few months after making his first-team debut at Barcelona, he was called up by Spain to play in a friendly against France.

However, his international debut was postponed after he withdrew and declined to be a member of the Spain squad for Euro 2008, which they eventually won.

Although he was forced to leave both, he claimed he had been suffering from anxiety ten years later.

The people do not understand what the football bit is, he continued, “as a football player.”

I was suffering a lot at the time, but I also knew it was something that was strengthening me.

Because I am aware that this is a story that can benefit both footballers and people in general, I wanted to tell my story at the end of my career, but not as Bojan the footballer but as Bojan the human.

Bojan spent three more years at Barcelona, but he had to adjust to those expectations and spent time away from the team with Ajax, AC Milan, and Roma.

However, he made the decision to break all ties with Barcelona in 2014 and sign for Stoke on the dotted line to play in the Premier League.

” It was one of the first big decisions I made in my career, “Bojan said”. After 12 years, it was time to cut the umbilical cord with Barcelona.

“I made the decision because I believed it to be the best choice, but it was hurting me at the time very much.”

Bojan was unable to fly out to join up with Stoke despite having boarded the plane to leave Spain because the anxiety issues that he had been experiencing had become so severe.

“The plane was going to the sky but I was feeling ‘ wow, I cannot fly ‘ and that is why I stopped the plane”, he said.

Bojan left for Germany the following day to join the Stoke squad for a training camp.

He credits the Potters with making one of the best plays of his career, making 53 Premier League appearances and scoring 14 goals.

“For me, Stoke gave me a big opportunity to play for them and in the Premier League”, he said.

Bojan may not have been the next Messi, but he was starting a stellar career at Stoke, having had connections to moves to Manchester United and Liverpool.

However, he was never the same again after suffering a serious knee injury in January 2015. Before he retired from Japan, his career was interrupted by spells at Mainz and Alaves, retiring in 2022.

He joined Barcelona the following year, taking on the role of football co-ordinator, and despite being a few years older than some of the players currently playing in the first team, he is enjoying his new life off the field.

“I don’t miss playing football”, he said.

I think that was the chapter that I had to leave behind. I was proud of what I did and what I learned from both positive and negative experiences.

I feel like I already did this while I was training and playing with the players, and I am now taking a step forward.