Bojan Krkic was supposed to be a Barcelona legend, but at 31 years of age he doesn’t even shine in Japan alongside Iniesta. What does he have planned for the future?

Bojan Krkic was a once-in-a-generation talent. He was expected to become a Barcelona star and roll alongside Lionel Messi. Unfortunately, he never fulfilled his talent. Now he’s not even shining in Japan. But he is clear about his plans.

Bojan Krkic was supposed to be the star of Barcelona

The Catalan-born player with Serbian roots went through arguably the best academy in the world. He was brought up in the famous La Masia. He became a Barcelona player at the age of nine, but made his way into the A-team just after his 17th birthday, in the 2007/08 season.

In his first season under coach Frank Rijkaard, he appeared in 48 games, scoring 12 competitive goals and adding 6 assists. An outstanding achievement considering his age.

But then Pep Guardiola took over the helm and Bojan Krkic didn’t get as much space under him. He hasn’t had a better season than the first one at Barcelona, both in terms of minutes played and goals and assists.

He left the club before the 2010/11 season and never played for Barcelona after that. Thus, he played 163 games in their jersey, scoring 41 goals and adding 19 assists.

Krkić did not find happiness in Italy, his second home was England

After leaving Barcelona, Bojan Krkić played for two Italian clubs. First of all, he tried out for AS Rome, but did not make it into the starting line-up. He was then brought on loan to AC Milan, but he didn’t fare much better there.

He spent the 2012/13 season in the Dutch Eredivisie, where he defended the colours of Ajax Amsterdam, but unfortunately he couldn’t find his place there either. In total, he played 96 games for all three of these teams with a record of 15 goals and 10 assists.

From 2014 to 2019, his second home was England, where he was brought by Stoke City. It tried to bring in players who failed to fulfil their potential. In addition to Krkic, the team included Ibrahim Afellay. At one point, nobody had more Champions League winners in their squad than Stoke.

The Barcelona ward was limited by health problems and unstable performance. So, unfortunately, he gradually faded in England too. However, he developed a great relationship with the fans. In 2019, Krkić’s future at Stoke ended for good, but before that he managed two guest spells, namely at Bundesliga side Mainz and Spanish top-flight side Alaves.

For Stoke, he also tried his hand at the second English league. In total, he played 85 games for the club, scoring 15 goals and adding 3 assists.

Canada didn’t work out either, Krkić is looking for happiness in Japan

The year 2019 was marked by a move to the MLS overseas, Bojan Krkić signed a contract with Montreal. Here he became more or less a starting lineup player, spent two seasons in the club, but the same fairy tale kept repeating itself. To score 7 goals and have 4 assists in 31 games? A bit more is expected from a European footballer in the US, although these are not tragic numbers.

In 2021, the formerly great talent’s contract expired, he spent nine months as a free agent, and was eventually tried to be acquired by Japanese club Vissel Kobe, where Bojan got to shine alongside his former teammate and Barcelona legend Andrés Iniesta.

And how does it look with him? Unfortunately, he has been plagued by injuries and hasn’t hit form yet either, now spending his second season at the club, he has started 13 games, only appearing in the starting line-up four times, scoring a single goal.

As he says himself, the game in Japan is very intense, definitely not an easy competition in which it is easy to make a name for yourself.

Bojan Krkič is clear about his life after his career, he has no regrets

Bojan is now 31 years old, and rightly he could and should be in the prime of his career, but the opposite is true. He feels young himself. He wouldn’t turn down an offer from France, for example, which is the only one of the top five leagues he hasn’t played in. Crvena Zvezda Belgrade could also be in play, after all his father is a native of Belgrade.

He is more clear about his future after his career. “I learned a lot while studying to be a sport director. I prefer this position to coaching. A coach has to lead 25 players, while a sport director actually builds the team. I like the idea of discovering new talent and focusing on the human side of the game,” Krkić expressed in a recent interview with Sky Sports.

And that the Catalan footballer with Serbian roots has any regrets? No: ” It could have been better, but you can say that about everything in life. It could have been worse. I’m absolutely happy with my career, I always consider everything I’ve had the opportunity to experience and what I’m experiencing a privilege.”

Source: Barcelona, Transfermarkt, Sky Sports