Bojan: He was Better Than Messi, What Happened?

As Messi rose to prominence, his unknown fourth cousin was breaking youth records and by 17 had already broken into the FC Barcelona squad. Exceptional technical ability, lightning pace and an eye for goal, led to him being dubbed 'the next Messi' by the Catalan fans. With fame came pressure, and Bojan suddenly was struck with crippling bouts of anxiety and the young Spaniard gradually became known as a promising striker who never reached his great potential.
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:23 - Graduating La Masia & starting with Spain
1:36 - Senior at 17 & thriving with Barca
3:21 - Mounting pressure & national team exclusion
5:09 - Focusing on football
6:41 - Moving on
7:33 - Fading hype
9:08 - Final chapters
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[@stephanieokolie8095]

The fact he was called “the next messi” when Messi was just 20 years, shows how amazing messi was🤯. Out of this world

[@UnitedPacci]

He was not the next Messi. They were around the same era.

[@Spree7]

Shut up messi lover, this is about bojan

[@endrykperez412]

​@@Spree7keep crying 😂😂😂🤣🤣

[@TheMixCurator]

"The Tale of two Messi's - One left footed, one right" Never a truer statement. I remember him being the next big thing. Bigger than all of them before.

[@justicedemocrat9357]

There's truer statements, idiot.

[@Bisstoro]

@@justicedemocrat9357 everything good in home? youll get through it man dont you give up

[@justicedemocrat9357]

@@Bisstoro Don't psycho-analyse me, idiot.

[@asnark7115]

@@justicedemocrat9357 No need to, Auntie. You wear it like bad makeup. Sort of hard to look away from!

[@chandanraj6664]

@@justicedemocrat9357 u r a psyche ... donkey 😅

[@strainsofjasmine5658]

That FIFA 09 Bojan in Manager Mode was a beast. It’s a shame he never lived up to the potential everyone knew he had. Brilliant player

[@dineilhaynes1210]

Playing time is really the problem so he did not develop like messi did

[@ousmansano21]

@@dineilhaynes1210 he was a good player but never as talented as Messi

[@neiljason333]

@@ousmansano21 actually mental health is considered now seriously, before there was no such things and people just lived in their toxic filled mind alone , he is not better than messi , but he was definitely a great baller , but life doesn't go according to the plan always

[@ousmansano21]

@@neiljason333 what does that have to do with my comment?

[@Bodyoth]

the same thing that happened to every "Next Messi" - he was being compared to Lionel Messi. That kind of pressure is a little too much.

[@masters.1000]

The only one who comes to mind is Hazard, there was no other "next Messi".

[@bruno2331]

Krkic was lazy footballer

[@106.]

i hope fati doesent become the next bojan

[@PierreMN]

@@106. mans looking like the next Dembele with all these injuries

[@106.]

@@PierreMN 😂😂that what ive been saying

[@stephenbentley7314]

Great video, but as a Stoke fan I think you get the spin on his Stoke career a bit wrong, he was/is a fan favourite at Stoke and played really well for us, the entire team was doing awful around the time he dropped off so his drop off and his lesser goalscoring was down to him being played as more of a CAM for us, behind Crouch

[@TheBirdSolution]

Fellow Stokie, agree with all of this - somewhere there's an alternate timeline where we were able to properly utilise Bojan up front. He wasn't a perfect fit for us (the system of having one lanky targetman like Crouchie/Kenwyne and an all rounder like Arnautovic/Walters to back them up was way too engrained from even back in the Pulis days), if we'd had the midfield structure to let him shine centrally and make those Messi-like runs then it could've been a different story. Makes me wish we'd held on to N'Zonzi for abit longer, someone like him backing him up on those commanding passes moreso than Adam/Whelan etc might've gotten him abit more love

[@theretroroute]

That’s interesting to hear. Thanks for your feedback. Glad you enjoyed the video otherwise!

[@nigget-tv-videos4135]

@@TheBirdSolution he was let go because of his failure not because he was great

[@mattyctill]

Another Stokie here. He was on fire until he got injured at Rochdale in the cup.

[@devongiguere3721]

Not a Stoke fan at all but I started watching them whenever Bojan was in the starting 11 and I kind of agree with everyone here. He definitely wasn't a complete failure

[@ojirmr]

Bojan and Gio dos Santos, two wasted diamonds

[@FootballDrawn]

I remember him being the next big thing, when he had that breakthrough season under Frank Rijkaard. For all the "Next Messi's" that we hear, I genuinely thought he would actually pull through. Unfortunately, his candle burned too bright. Brilliant video ⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽

[@Muhiz23]

Did the ‘next messi’ comparisons start that early in messi’s career. He was like 20/21 years old in 2008/09?! That’s insane. I thought it started in 2011 when he was being regarded as the GOAT by some.

[@mrpk1719]

@@Muhiz23 in 2007 messi was 2nd in ballon dor race behind kaka in 2008 he was again 2nd behind ronaldo and in 2009 he won his first and he was also the golden boy winner before that he was in top 3 best in the world at that time. So yeah those comparisons started pretty early.

[@7for761]

@@mrpk1719 damn how fucking good is messi🐐 is he even a human tho

[@mrpk1719]

@@7for761 not from this planet that's for sure.

[@ElegantenFranVidderna]

I suffer from severe anxiety, so I'll know what Bojan went through, it can be life crippling at times. I can't imagine having the pressure of playing for a big club as Barca., I mean I'll wouldn't even be able to play in the Sunday league (when things were at it's worse). I feel for Bojan, he's maybe one of the biggest "if".

[@dacwlegat1460]

Hope u feeling better! Good for you that you play with a club!:)

[@ElegantenFranVidderna]

@@dacwlegat1460 I'm doing much better these days, thanks. :D

[@johnwick7583]

The biggest “IF” is What if Neymar wasn’t born in the Messi and Ronaldo era

[@toobalkain]

it's always sad to see unfulfilled potential but he's still doing very well being a multimillionaire, a crowd favorite in Japan, playing the game he loves, sure beats having to work for a living.

[@JiTiAr35]

Pep's learned his lesson. He knew Foden should be taking up slowly. He doesn't want he ended up like Bojan.

[@radioactive4788]

This channel is reviving my childhood and teenager years , born in 1991 i was lucky enough to witness an era full of great players , through your content I'm living yet again in that era , where Shevchenko was my hero and AC Milan was my salvation, football between 1999 to 2010 played huge role in my life . Keep up the good work

[@amsterdamG2G]

Around the time you were born Milan played their best football ever

[@nyk2000m]

@@amsterdamG2G Mid 00s Milan also pretty good.

[@bogstandardash3751]

"future star who never made it".. I know he didn't become Messi mark 2, but he had a full career as a pro football player and is probably very rich because of it. Not making it would be having to retrain to do a normal job.

[@bimanatawilaga7509]

That 07-08 was what if moment for me Although in overall the season was shite, but Barca really have bright future. Their offense already have fantastic 4 (Eto'o, Ronaldinho, Messi, Henry) and from the bench, Bojan and Gio dos Santos was also rising and showed able to fill the starting position when their main forward were injured.

[@marianchicago4002]

He never should had gone to Italy, it's changing, but italy in those days was still very defensive, teams play narrow, compact and rough up forwards and strikers. He should had stayed in spain for his first loan move. Or gone to a team that played more offensive game. Think it would had been interesting if he had gone to Arsenal after barcelona, Wegner did well with small players compared to other teams.

[@shaggyfeng9110]

He was too expensive for Wenger's Arsenal

[@EdwardElfigo]

He went to Italy cause Luis Henrique was Roma’s manager and wanted to play Barça-style of football

[@jahed4908]

What a video🔥 Love your story telling skills and the music make the video perfect👌🏾

[@rob7146]

Can you do a video about Marko Marin. He was brillant 15 years ago and the biggest rising star in german football.

[@somaliguy]

Nah just another dwarf

[@reniola]

Brilliant video! Always wondered what happened with this young man. Great talent.

[@TGFLdn24]

This is why I love this channel, I never knew about his anxiety issues. Strong anxiety is nothing to mess with at all.

[@brandonayong5823]

I always felt bad for this guy. You could tell football was his escapism. But coming up with Eto'o Messi Henry and later on David villa in the team. He had no chance. There was also that Brazilian player at Barça at around the same time that was heavily compared to Ronaldinho ( he even looked like him) but he also failed to have a big career

[@michael7949]

This is a great video man really interesting to hear the context behind Bojan not reaching his potential as I had him down as just another failed wonder kid but to hear about his mental struggles has given me a different perspective on him.

[@Techson1337]

Great Video! Excellent choice of music for the last chaper!

[@Jack-ni4ft]

Great video as per usual

[@user-wf6is9kf2u]

When he came to Ajax i had very high expectations from him, but i cant remember a single game that he lived up to that. I can imagine that its mentally very hard if you cant live up to the expectations.

[@selvinfernandez11]

"The next (add name)" for any youngster is just to much. Single handedly biggest career killer

[@zakoid1]

I remember all the talk about him at Barca and how good he was, and from what I seen he had definite talent so I was surprised to see him get loaned out even if it was to big clubs. When I seen Stoke City had signed him though I knew things had gone badly wrong somewhere.

[@aaronsnumbuh2]

Nice vid. I had thought he fell off because he got injured and didn't train. Very good points on the importance of the mental game in futbol

[@diyasiospchandler1991]

I love the entrance music of these videos

[@mifster83]

He hit his potential early on and obviously could improve more after that

[@elijah9433]

Now after seeing this you realize how amazing Messi is.

[@darkzombie5641]

Everybody knows this. You build your own name someday. Somebody who wants to become you will be under your shadow.

[@TacitusKilgore165]

Hes a great scout in fm21, would def recommend hiring especially if you're managing Barca or City and need a scout with knowledge of central Europe/ balkans :)

[@panagsamo4]

good video bro, can you do what happend to Diego (the Brazilian talent) ?

[@jevon39]

Thanks for another great video

[@theretroroute]

Thanks for watching!

[@thegoat5375]

I love this beautiful series ❤️

[@TGFLdn24]

I hope he takes up coaching and mentoring, he could do well up coming players and how they should/could be handled. Not everyone is the same and needs different modes of mentoring.

[@cycglplg]

if he had started his career with a club with lesser superstars, it might have been a different story

[@miguelrosado6348]

What happened is that skill is not enough to be a great professional footballer. If you have a weak mind, if you have injuries, if you have trouble to adapt to a new situations (new tactics, new manager, new players around you) you will have problems at succeeding as a professional football player.

[@Sam-qz2by]

Remember how good he was on FM06

[@JckSwan]

Well he'll always be a favourite of mine. I signed him at Ipswich in Football Manager '06 and we achieved some wonderful things together.

[@darkzombie5641]

Funny

[@user-rv3rv9mw6x]

I feel like crying for him 😢

[@David-cm4ok]

We shouldn’t feel too badly for him. He got to live a football career playing with awesome clubs, that millions of kids would love to do. I’m sure he made a few bob too.

[@zimzimma5688]

Messi is the obvious comparison to make, as they were both Barca youth prodigies, but I think the parallels in overall career trajectory with another little Argentine who played for Barca are far more apt and that's Javier Saviola.

[@CJ0101]

Saviola wasn't a similar player.

[@zimzimma5688]

@@CJ0101 I disagree I think they were very similar, both were small, quick and really agile but yet scored a lot of their goals because of their movement. In what ways do you think they were different?

[@CJ0101]

@@zimzimma5688 They were both small, Argentine and quick. The comparison doesn't extend much further than that. Saviola didn't play in the same position as these two; and, he didn't have the same dribbling ability or skill level. Hence, why he left.

[@zimzimma5688]

@@CJ0101 Just to be clear I wasn't comparing Saviola to Messi as a footballer (although before Messi's time in many ways he was seen as what Messi actually became) I was comparing him to Bojan though. Bojan started as a striker when he was coming through and although he was pushed out to the wing that was seen as where he would end up as he matured, he just never really pushed on. In terms of skill and dribbling they were two of Saviolas main strengths. He and Bojan were very comparable in that regard as young players (Messi a different level obviously) To be perfectly honest though Saviola probably had more hype than both of them as a teenagers as well. He was very much seen as Maradona's heir apparent right from the get go as a 17 year old. I think the fact that he wasn't actually probably tempered peoples expectations of Messi a bit at the start until he quickly started proving that he was the real deal.

[@CJ0101]

@@zimzimma5688 I understand that, however the title of the video refers to the comparison of Krkić being the 'Next Messi'. Therefore, the similarities extend to the comparison between Messi and Saviola, which you made at the end of your last post.. I don't recall Saviola ever being hailed as being on the same level as Messi. Saviola didn't play in the same position and he wasn't nearly as good a dribbler, or as skilful, as Messi or Krkić. Hence, the many chances Krkić was given to resurrect his career at top clubs after leaving Barcelona. Loads of people were mentioned in the same breath as Maradona when they were coming up: D'Alessandro, Riquelme, Ortega, Aimar etc. It happens a lot.

[@PSF1986]

Soon as young players break through they always get compared to some player that just adds instant pressure instead of just letting them grow & becoming their own identity

[@carlislepanting5219]

Great video but sad also!! Belize central america I'm from and I'm a Real Madrid fan!!

[@gregoriuspascalis500]

Personally I rated him higher than Pedro, but Pedro is more successful, maybe because Pedro is lower profile in his youth

[@asnark7115]

Pedro also had enough pace to play high and establish a threat when Barca was in their own end and not clogging the other team's box.

[@MegaKapo12]

In 2008 even i would say what's wrong with him he has everything you could wish, but after battling my owb inner demons I understand him, but still can't imagine his plight.

[@godswilllaks1530]

Not trying to trivialise his struggle ; but mental attitude is everything.

[@leokrissandy5579]

some young players who failed to break out in their early career able to bounce back in later years such as aubameyang etc, too bad bojan, gio dos santos, fredy adu, mastour etc fail completely

[@azizulhakimtimin4871]

guardiola happen he thrive so much under rijkaard but pep simply chose pedro because he like him better

[@joealley0]

Good video but hard to watch with the low res clips

[@michal2135]

strong mentality is the most important in top level football

[@recruitmentch]

Actually the lack of speed in tight situations was ultimately his downfall. In Serie a, he was literally butchered by tight marking defenders. He always wanted to dribble at close proximity but he didn't have the quick thinking or speed to pull them off. So the moment he would get a ball, he was immediately jumped on. In many ways, the same problem now besets Brahim Diaz. They are elegant, gifted and lovely players to watch, but just don't quite have the speed of thought or feet to keep up with what's in their head.

[@lorenzodias2265]

No time to die as background music🤌🏾

[@chilled99]

That anxiety - he will have some regrets he couldn't get better during his young days

[@KestraMusic101]

If Messi could retire from National Duties due to criticism what would you expect a teenager to do .Ive played football and there was a time i scored a hattrick after that game my two coaches expected me to do it in every game and i couldnt which killed my confidence until 1 year later i quit due to feeling unworthy

[@marsultor9078]

Please can anyone help me with the name of the piano music playing towards the end. 🙏

[@vlad261996]

Can someone tell me the name of the song from 8:46?

[@mayalauzon6242]

Anxiety is horrendous

[@MrLedeberg]

hate it when they call some young player the new messi or new maradonna , it puts too much pressure on them and people expect too much too fast

[@viseversa6161]

I liked Bojan because he was a cute and his position that is striker. I hoped he would go to reach world class level :)

[@David_Smith]

He really thought those Italians will let him make them look stupid ? Hard tackles in his rass.

[@fredrickekweogwu9520]

I’ve never been so upset about hearing La Masia being pronounced wrongly but yeah, you’ve done it. 😂

[@bruno2331]

Its not Božan its Bojan

[@amsterdamG2G]

I honestly forgot Bojan played for Ajax

[@UnHoLyHooLiGaN]

11 years to recover ? that isn't metal health only

[@baliksupper6043]

You really can’t sink lower that playing for hoof+chase Stoke.

[@laukpauk8868]

What is the background song?

[@jameslancefield9810]

David Villa was 28 when he joined Barca, Not exactly a "young" compatriot.

[@darkzombie5641]

He was in Valencia right , with David silva ?

[@damianclark550]

Just be you. There is never a next anyone....

[@FellTheSky]

His biggest mistake was to leave barca. His football was that of Barca. The same thing will happen to puig if he leaves barca

[@Muhiz23]

Barca should protect pedri and gavi so history doesn’t repeat himself

[@Blizzardfire]

Barca already had a scare with Pedri. They almost burned him physically last season.

[@Muhiz23]

@@Blizzardfire yeah ik. That was so frustrating because riqui was a perfect back up. He gets used a lot by Xavi as well. I thought he should’ve been rested on Thursday.

[@toneiraiszh993]

Sad story😔

[@luciekendrick]

Never knew he was related to Leo

[@36minutesago7]

Expectation weighs heavy on young shoulders.

[@imransuhail82]

Let's hope ansu fati isn't the new Bojan. Hes being put under too much pressure

[@oshanewilliams6894]

If he had just stay he would have been a legend.

[@MrReese]

How is his career finished when he is actually playing at Kobe with Iniesta?

[@jordan_roadhouse4798]

And yet when on the internet all you ever see is "English always over hype their players" like no one else ever does 🤡

[@Boznaniac]

Make a video about Götze

[@emeraldak.4090]

I just hope that fati, pedri and gavi wont be in circumstances like him

[@vincenzovieri3743]

the fact that he whined about not being given playing time in the champions league final only made him look like a pre-madona. even though it was a secured win. he did not deserve any playing time in the final, as he was poor in performance. all because he wanted his grandmother see him play. well, u earn ur spot it's not given to u so u can take someone who earned it just to satisfy ur fan. he lost my respect after that. he ruined his career. he barely was even good at mls and now is in japan. he's played in like 10 countries now. honestly i truly believe his mental issues his anxiety got the best of him. he was scared and never got over it. i truely believe with the talent he had, him and messi would of gone on to be even more dominant, but it still worked out for barca. a nearly 20 year dominace if not 15 is quite unheard of at most 10 years but barca was something else.

[@mrwaltermathews]

I always thought he apathetically skipped out on that European championship.

[@iliusha82]

Pronounced BoYan, not BoZHan.

[@music8419]

I guess the "next messi" or "next ronaldo" hype still never has fruit all these years with the potent keeps feel pressured and failings

[@ChrisPBacon-lu6wd]

I'm a big fan of his .

[@klausbrinck2137]

Comparing anyone or anything with Messi is plain stupid to begin with, and those Media propagating such rumors should be restrained by law, when it´s about kids, and the laws for that already exist. On the other side, Messi is small, but he´s built like a tank (people often overlook that), and a career-ending-injury for Bojan wouldn´t wait for long, since his job was to take Messi-levels of risk...

[@kieranfogarty778]

Jesus Navas also suffered from bad anxiety

[@akashpandey2733]

u can actually see this similar story in Ansu Fati

[@jinzok]

Bojan stole Giovani's place and Pedro stole Bojan's place

[@franco8flyline]

Ansu Fati needs to be careful.. might be him next

[@telmolicious]

Messi had barely become the “real Messi” before this guy was dubbed the next 😅

[@jaxxgotgame8881]

Eaxactly! that time Messi was dubbed the 'Next Maradona'

[@markeltringham2427]

The bit about his Stoke career isn't right. And there's no German club called 'Mains'

[@dkz1302]

He should have headed home to Red Star Belgrade. There, he would have gotten plenty of game time.

[@Llekamania]

Screw anxiety 😢

[@lp4969]

Literally any young player is the next messi for culers lol

[@danizinido4120]

How could he be the next Messi if he was in the almost the same age and played in the same time

[@oriolrm]

Great video, but please don't use "flamenco" music (classic guitar and handclap combo) for a video about a Catalan player. Flamenco is the music from Andalucia. It's not traditional of other parts of Spain (except if you go to a tourist trap). It's as if you used Scottish pipes for a video about an English player

[@Gggg-cq1ih]

Calm down the guy played for Barca, AC Milan, Ajax, Roma and a rainy Wednesday in Stoke. Your here acting like he's a failure you bum.

[@akashjatua8519]

If someone could just tell him to get the shit together and be in the euro 2008.. Today football history would have been written differently !!

[@tarelakentebe465]

Sounds like something sancho might be going through

[@BigbirdTravelsltd]

If he had come from a 3rd country like Messi Ronaldinho maybe he would have handled pressure differently