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7 months ago
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The youngest among you have not experienced the Bojanmania. But the older ones surely remember it. While a certain Lionel Messi began to amaze the planet, another young player already seemed ready to follow in his footsteps and was already being compared to La Pulga : Bojan Krkic. After having shattered absolutely all the goals records in the club’s youth teams, the pure product of La Masia started with the A’s in 2007, and little by little integrated the first team, where a destiny similar to that of ‘Argentin seemed to be waiting for him. But between monumental pressure and some mental health concerns, then very tough competition in the Barcelona offensive sector, Bojan failed to find an important place for himself. In 2011, he left Barça and began a long journey which took him through Roma, AC Milan, Ajax and Stoke City, then, through Mainz, Alavés, Impact Montréal and finally Vissel Kobe where he was able to rub shoulders with his former teammate Andrés Iniesta.
The “daddy” of La Masia nuggets
A career marked by instability and physical problems, and he never managed to establish himself despite a few successes, notably at Stoke City. Far from what we could have predicted at the time, and we can say it, Bojan is one of the biggest flops in the modern history of football. Still very attached to football, he quickly decided to get back on track and begin a career change in offices. Joan Laporta thus opened the doors of FC Barcelona to him. In September, his arrival within the sports management of Deco was made official.
He plays a collaborative role, and is mainly responsible for monitoring the performances and development of La Masia’s young players, from the lowest age categories up to Barça B and the first team. He is the club’s new reference in terms of training and it is especially during the perilous transition from the U19s or the B to the first team that he is responsible for supporting the players, but also for briefing the technical staff and management on the qualities or problems of the club’s nuggets. Barça also wants Bojan to be a sort of father figure – but also an authority figure – to prevent the club’s most promising players from experiencing the same problems he went through.
The future strong man of Barça?
A particularly important role, especially at a time when the club is in a very tense financial situation and must, more than ever, call on its training center to strengthen the first team. That’s not all, since Bojan has another major responsibility: monitoring the development of players loaned by the club across Europe. For example, it is he who supervises the development of Julian Araujo, the 22-year-old Mexican full-back loaned to Las Palmas, who could well return and be kept next summer since he convinced the new Barcelona leader according to local media . And it’s not just about watching the matches on television, since Bojan also meets with the managers/coaches of the clubs where Barcelona players are loaned to get as much data and information on the players’ development as possible. in question.
Just as he maintains permanent contact with these elements of Barça loaned to other teams, like Alex Valle (Levante) or Pablo Torre (Girona). One thing is certain, Bojan is a man who has his work cut out for him. And above all, FC Barcelona seems to be counting heavily on him for the future. It is no coincidence that he is regularly highlighted by the club’s media and that he often accompanies Joan Laporta during the latter’s media outings. He was thus present during the meeting between Laporta, Xavi and the locker room, although theoretically, his role is not necessarily intended to deal with the problems encountered by the first team. The press also reports that in a short time, he has become Deco’s trusted man, and he is presented by the local media as someone who is very hardworking, discreet, and who is unanimously accepted internally. Bojan is always present near the training center and the Johan Cruyff stadium, where the B and some of the club’s youth teams play. It would therefore not be surprising to see the Catalan have a better career in the offices than on the pitch…
