Bojan Krkic has officially ended his career on Thursday. In doing so, he addressed Frank Rijkaard, among others.
Bojan thanks Rijkaard for his final farewell as a professional footballer
“I want to announce the end of an era of professional football, for which I feel infinitely grateful,” said the former Ajax player in a press conference of the club where he grew up: Barcelona. “In my current situation, twelve years away from home, I am professionally satisfied. I felt it was time to be close to my family.”
In his last words as a professional, Krkic, who was last active at Vissel Kobe in Japan, paid special attention to Frank Rijkaard. “The coach who drew me the most was Frank Rijkaard, not only by letting me debut but also by letting me grow,” he said.
Bojan played more than four hundred club matches all over the world and played one international match for Spain. The attacker won quite a few trophies with Barcelona, but it will still be found that Bojan has not fully lived up to his potential. As a youth player, his reputation as a goalscoring machine preceded him. He is reported to have scored a thousand goals in Barça’s youth academy.
In the end, he played 163 games in the main squad of the Catalans, but there was no upward trend in his career. After being sold to AS Roma, Bojan was loaned to AC Milan before being bought back by Barça. Shortly afterwards, the attacker was loaned out to Ajax, with which he became champion of the Netherlands and still played against Barça in the Champions League.
Still, Bojan could not break any pots in the Eredivisie and was finally sold by Barcelona to Stoke City after the 2013/14 season. The Spaniard then played for 1. FSV Mainz 05, Alavés, Impact de Montréal and therefore Vissel Kobe.
Barcelona further under scrutiny: also UEFA investigation into Negreira case
Speaking about former Barcelona players, the club may also be facing a European penalty. Because UEFA is also investigating possible corruption in the Negreira case.
Barcelona is involved in a corruption case in its own country, which revolves around payments to referee boss Negreira. The Catalan club contradicts the allegations and calls it an attack on the club.
But in addition to the Spanish judiciary, UEFA is also investigating possible violations of the legal framework. That was drawn up in 2013 to combat match fixing. This is done in connection with the Negreira case, the European Union said in a statement.
In Spanish media it is suggested that UEFA is thinking of a European ban of Barcelona. As a possible punishment for breaking the regulations.
