Bojan Krkic Pérez

Bojan Krkic joins the senior squad for the 2006-07 season at the tender age of 16. In just one year he has progressed from the youth side to Barça B and now the first team.

Bojan Krkic was born in Linyola (Catalonia) on 28th August 1990. In just one season, from 2006-07 to 2007-08, this promising young forward has made the leap from Juvenil A to the first team. Along the way he played the second part of the season with Barça B in Second Division B.

Bojan joined Barça in 1999 becoming part of the Benjamí A boys squad. His rise through the ranks of the Barça academy teams was meteoric: Aleví B (2000-01), Aleví A (2001-02), Infantil B (2002-03), Infantil A (2003-04) and Cadet B (2004-05). He started the 2005-06 season with the Cadet A team but was soon promoted up to Juvenil A. The pattern was repeated in the 2006-07 season, which he began with Juvenil A and finished with Barça B.

During his half season with Barça B, he scored 10 goals and became the team’s top scorer.

His big breakthrough came in 2007 when he won the European under-17 Championship with Spain, scoring the winning goal in the final against England (1-0). He also made his first team debut with Barça on 24th April against Al-Ahly in Egypt, scoring Barça’s second goal.

On 5th June 2007, at the age of just 16, he played his first match with the Spain under-21 team.

Bojan played the 2007-08 pre-season with the first team. But the Catalan forward missed out on the Asian tour due to his participation at the Under 17 World Cup in Korea. He scored five goals in the tournament, and was the star of a Spain side that finished second, while he was also named third best player of the tournament.

Back in Barcelona, Rijkaard handed the youngster his first chances both in the League and the Champions League. He set two records, becoming both the youngest Barça player ever to make his debut in the Champions league and the youngest player ever to score a league goal for Barça. The first record was achieved on September 19 2007, against Olympique Lyon, when he was 17 years and 22 days; the second was against Villarreal, on October 20 of the same year, when he scored aged just 17 years, 1 month and 22 days.

PROFILE

Bojan is fast and has the ability to go past his marker. Despite his youth, he is used to dealing with defenders that are stronger and more experienced than him. His bursts of speed and his skill with the ball at his feet are two of his virtues. However, his main strength is his killer instinct in front of goal.

HONOURS

Spain
2007 European under-17 Champion
2007 World Cup under-17 Runner-up