Messi's old mate Bojan was picked ahead of Ibrahimovic and Henry at Barca... so, why has he now turned up at Stoke City?

Back in the 2007-08 season a teenage striker by the name of Bojan Krkic was breaking into the Barcelona first team allowing nothing and nobody – not even Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimovic – to stand in his way.

On the club’s pre-season tour of Scotland with Henry the expensive new signing from Arsenal, Bojan was the star impressing so much that Barça had to turn down offers from Ajax to take him on loan.

He stayed to fight for a place in the first team and became Barcleona’s youngest-ever goalscorer when he netted against Villarreal that October aged 17 years and 54 days and he was called up to the Spain squad only to pull out because of sickness.

 

Bojan the boy wonder had become the forgotten man. And like so many schooled by Barça who then have to make their way beyond the confines of the Camp Nou he found it tough.

He had been at Barcelona since signing as an eight-year-old. His Serbian-born father, then a Barcelona scout, had played for Red Star Belgrade before moving to Catalunya where he met Bojan’s mother.

His dad was the driving force in his son’s career as he scored over 900 goals in various levels of the club’s youth system before becoming the third youngest player in the club’s history to play for the first team in September of 2007.

It had been too much too young, perhaps. Even the Spain call-up had been brought forward because his dual-nationality made him eligible for Serbia.

He had won the player of the tournament award two years running in the Under 17 European Championship, made his debut for the Under 21 side aged just 16, and became the second youngest player ever to represent his country when he finally made his debut in 2008 but the international career never got going and he faded from view at Barcelona.

Now, after unsuccessful spells under current Barça manager Luis Enrique at Roma, and under another former Barcelona player Frank De Boer at Ajax, he finds himself under yet another one-time Barça player in Mark Hughes.

The Premier League will be tough. He’s only 23 but this shot at the most competitive league in the world feels like a last chance to fulfil all that early promise.

Former coach Rijkaard once said of him: ‘He is a special player who always makes the right decision on the pitch.’

He has taken a big decision off it this summer. Those at Barcelona who remember how he once upstaged one of the Premier League’s greatest ever performers, Henry, will hope it turns out well for him.