I played for Barcelona and was tipped to be next Lionel Messi but making my Stoke debut is one of my career highlights
FORMER Barcelona forward Bojan was tipped to be the next Lionel Messi… but ended up enjoying five years playing for Stoke.
The Spaniard, 32, came through the Catalan giants’ famous La Masia academy and played 163 games for the first team.
During his time in the squad from 2007 to 2011, he was tipped to achieve great things at the club – with the Spanish media even referring to him as the “new Messi“.
And while he did claim three LaLiga titles and two Champions Leagues at the Nou Camp, he never lived up to those expectations and left for Roma in 2011.
He joined Stoke in 2014 – who were in the Premier League at the time – racking up 85 appearances and 16 goals for the club during his five-season stint in England.
And while going from Barcelona to Staffordshire is not a conventional switch, Bojan insists it was one of the best times of his career.
When asked about his best moments in football, he told Marca: “There will be countless good moments, but I would certainly like to highlight what was my debut in the first team or at the Camp Nou. My first goal.
“The experience in the Premier [League], where Stoke has always shown me a lot of affection.
“And also other experiences in foreign clubs. The fact of knowing the Japanese culture… [there] are many positive things.”
Bojan was also quizzed on what it was like being labelled the “new Messi” while at Barcelona – a pressure many players have been lumbered with at the club over the past 15 years.
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When asked if the nickname hurt him, he added: “Yes. Well, I wouldn’t say hurt. It’s more of a label.
“You think that until you learn and see that it doesn’t depend on you, then everything becomes a little more complicated.
“They put that label on me and it was not easy.
“The process of understanding that these were expectations that came from outside and mine should be others took me a while.”
After leaving Stoke, Bojan joined MLS side Montreal Impact for two seasons.
He then moved to Japan to play for Vissel Kobe alongside former Barcelona team-mate Andres Iniesta.
He officially announced his retirement from football at the Nou Camp last month.
He has now claimed he is going to turn his attention to gravel cycling.