Bojan Krkić

Early years

Born in Linyola, Lleida, Catalonia, to a Serbian father, Bojan Krkić Sr., who was a professional footballer for Serbian team OFK Beograd, and a Catalan mother, Maria Lluïsa Pérez, Bojan played for Barcelona's youth teams from 1999 to 2006. A quick striker with quite notable dribbling skills, it was reported that he scored over 900 goals for various youth teams since joining the club as an eight-year-old, breaking Lionel Messi's record. He then played the 2006–07 season with the Barcelona B team until he signed a professional contract with the first team upon turning 17. Bojan played his first match with Barcelona on 24 April 2007, scoring a goal in a friendly match against Egyptian club Al Ahly.

Barcelona

2007–08 season

On 16 September 2007 (at 17 years and 19 days), Bojan made his official debut for Barcelona against Osasuna, replacing Giovani dos Santos in the 78th minute and breaking Lionel Messi's record of the youngest Barcelona player to feature in a La Liga match. Three days later, he made his UEFA Champions League debut against Lyon, coming on at the 88th minute for Messi. He was, at the time, the youngest Barcelona player ever to feature in a Champions League game, at 17 years and 22 days. He made his second Champions League appearance on 2 October, coming on at the 81st minute for Ronaldinho against VfB Stuttgart. On 20 October 2007 (at 17 years and 53 days), Bojan made his first league start for Barcelona away to…

Spain

Youth

Bojan shot to prominence as a 15-year-old at the UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Luxembourg in May 2006 when he was joint top-scorer, despite being a year younger than most of the other players in the tournament and only playing 40 minutes in four out of Spain's five matches. He scored a hat-trick against Luxembourg before inspiring his team to a 3–0 victory over the eventual champions Russia, with all of the goals being scored after he came on as a second-half substitute. In the third match, he scored a penalty after once again being introduced at half time. He started the semi-final against the Czech Republic but, after his teammate Roberto García was sent off, Spain struggled and lost 0–2 in a shock result. In the third-place play-off, Bojan was once again a second-half substitute and scored the opener in the 53rd minute. When the match went to penalties, he scored and Spain won 5–4 to finish third. In the 2007 European Under-17 Football Championship, Bojan led Spain to victory, scoring the only goal against England in the final. He also scored in the semi-final against Belgium. There was controversy surrounding Bojan's call up to the Spain U17 squad for the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup in South Korea, because Barcelona wanted to keep him so that he could be part of their Asian tour. The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) denied the request, and further controversy arose when the RFEF denied one of Barcelona's medics, Ricard…

Club

International

His father, Bojan Krkić Sr, was a professional footballer in Yugoslavia and a scout for Barcelona. Bojan was eligible to play football for Serbia through his father. According to a genealogical research conducted by Diari Segre in 2011, Bojan is a fourth cousin of former teammate Lionel Messi; both are the great-great-great-grandchildren of Mariano Pérez Miralles and Teresa Llobrera Minguet, who married in El Poal in the Catalan Comarca of Pla d'Urgell in 1846. The finding had a very significant coverage in Spanish media: it was reported by all four major sports newspapers and by some of the largest general-interest newspapers, including ABC and La Vanguardia. In 2021, Bojan obtained his academic degree as a master in Sport Management from Johan Cruyff Institute.