Former Barcelona and Spain forward Bojan Krkic has retired from professional football at the age of 32, following a career that spans 15 years and 7 countries.
Bojan came through the La Masia academy and was touted as one of the greatest ever talents to come out of it, scoring more goals in the youth ranks than anyone else. The numbers exceeded 800 goals, and at the age of 17, he made his senior debut with Barcelona. He is the third-youngest debutant in club history, and would win an international cap for Spain at the age of 18.
He would go on to score 41 goals and record 19 assists in 161 appearances for the Blaugrana. He would then go on to feature for Roma, Milan, Ajax, Stoke City, Montreal Impact and Vissel Kobe, before becoming a free agent this year. In total, he featured 451 times, scoring 93 goals and assisting 40 times.
Speaking at a farewell event at Camp Nou, Bojan said he was proud of his career.
“It is with great pride that I want to announce that a stage is over, the stage of a professional football player, in which I feel infinitely grateful for everything I have experienced.”
His comments were carried by Sport, and Bojan admitted it was time to move on for him.
“These decisions are not easy to make, but it is true that he had been away from home for twelve years at a professional level. I feel very fulfilled, also personally. I felt that it was the moment to move on to the next thing, and to enjoy things that I have not been able to do these years.”
During his career he won three La Liga titles, a Champions League, a Copa del Rey, two Spanish Supercups and a European Supercup with Barcelona. He also won the Dutch Supercup and Eredivisie with Ajax.
His final game as a footballer will be with the Catalan national team, who are looking to arrange a friendly in June to send Bojam off. He also admitted that he had been taking courses in order to remain in football.
“In recent years I have been training, more in sports management. I feel ready to start a new stage with enthusiasm, wanting to be part of a club, in the sports management part and, above all, in the most human side of the players, knowing how we live, the difficulties we have…”.
Bojan has admitted to suffering panic attacks from the age of 17 onwards in his autobiography, something he had to manage throughout the rest of his career. Barcelona President Joan Laporta said the doors were open for him at the club. Bojan’s father also once acted as a scout for Barcelona.
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he has done a lot in his career