The Curious Case of Bojan krkic
Bojan Krkic Perez is a Spanish football player of Serbian heritage. Bojan was born to Bojan Krkic Sr on August 28th, 1990. Bojan Sr. was a footballer himself and the man was a scout for FC Barcelona. When a 9 year old Bojan was selected by the
famed Cantera for development, it must have been a proud day for Senor Krkic. Bojan was a child sensation since his earliest days. The golden boy played for the Cantera teams for the next 7 years. With devastating pace and sublime dribbling skills, Bojan scored
well over 800 goals for the Barca youth teams in those 7 seasons.
If his Cantera exploits weren’t enough, Bojan took the world by storm with a string of sensational performances for the Spanish U-17 team. In the 2006 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship, Bojan was taken along with the squad even though the Barca
prodigy was a year younger than his fellow participants. Bojan wasn’t a starter for the team and indeed played only 40 minutes in 4 out of 5 matches.
Sensationally, Bojan still managed to finish the tournament as the top scorer. The youngster showed his boundless potential again at the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup the following year. La Furia Roja made it to the final but lost out on penalties; Bojan missed
the final due to suspension. The young sensation won Bronze Ball and the Bronze Shoe for his exploits.
A talent like Bojan could not be kept in the shadows for long and the player signed his first professional contract with FC Barcelona as soon as he turned 17. The long awaited day came when Bojan Krkic finally made his senior debut with the club. On 16th
September, 2007, a 17 year old (17 years and 19 days) Bojan entered the pitch to replace Giovanni Dos Santos thus becoming the youngest Barcelona player to have played in a La Liga fixture. The record was previously held by Lionel Messi. Bojan appeared in
a further 30 league matches that season most of them being substitute appearances however. It was a big achievement on his part as the clubs had the likes of Ronaldinho and Thierry Henry gunning for first team places. Bojan formed a friendship with Henry in
particular and the later acted as a mentor to the young prodigy.
Since the start of the 2008/09 season, Bojan's development looks to have stalled. The player is arguably on the same level that he was at when he scored a 40 yard stunner against Belgium in the Semi-finals of U-17 European competition. The cutthroat competition
at Camp Nou meant that the player wasn’t given the opportunities necessary to grow. The divine form of Samuel Eto’o, the experience of Henry, arrival of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the coming of age performances of Pedro, have all played their part in stalling
his development.
Bojan and Giovanni Dos Santos both are blessed with outrageous ability. Bojan decided to fight for a first team place while Dos Santos went looking for new pastures. It didn’t work out for either of the two. Had their decisions been the opposite, it could
have worked a treat. Bojan should have left the club on temporary basis to get critical first team minutes under his belt.
A loan deal to a club like Getafe would have sufficed. The player has all the potential to merit a first team place for a mid-table team. At Barcelona, his confidence is shattered, his finishing way ward and he fails to impress more often than not. Following
the sale of Zlatan Ibrahimovic earlier this season, Bojan has appeared in all six La Liga fixtures. Not surprisingly, the poor finishing means the forward has failed to hit the back of the net so far.
One can only hope the forward finds his feet with increased playing time for failure to realise his potential would be criminally sad.
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