For most of his professional life, Bojan Krkic has been chasing a legend.



Dubbed “the next Messi” around the time he became the youngest-ever player to debut for Barcelona in 2007 aged 17 years and 19 days, Bojan was supposed to end up a global star. He was a boy wonder, the kid who would become Leo’s peer, an icon before he was a legal adult.



Those expectations were unrealistic. In hindsight, they were unfair. To ask anyone to be Messi — perhaps the greatest in the history of the game — is absurd.



Bojan, of course, didn’t come close to realizing Leo’s level. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t have success. He scored 41 goals in 163 games across all competitions in four seasons with Barcelona, winning two UEFA Champions League crowns and three La Liga titles before he left the club in the summer of 2011. Stints at Roma, AC Milan, Ajax and Stoke City followed, accompanied by a few flashes of...