'I didn't want to show weakness' - Former Barcelona wonderkid Bojan opens up on mental health struggles during time as a player

• Played for Barcelona from 2007-2011
• Revealed that anxiety issues impacted career
• Retired in March, aged 32

WHAT HAPPENED? Bojan was pipped as a future star when he made his Barca debut in 2007. And after a solid spell, the winger embarked on a varied career, eventually playing for nine clubs before retiring earlier this year. He has since revealed that anxiety issues saw his career curtailed.

WHAT THEY SAID: "I lived it with a lot of secrecy. It was an issue that I had to face, and I didn't want to show that weakness. I went to train, I showed myself strong, and it was when I got home that I experienced it with my parents or whoever was with me at that time," Bojan revealed in an excerpt from his upcoming documentary.

"My teammates saw me in difficulty, that I had given up playing in the Euro Cup, but I don't think they understood what the process I was going through entailed," he added.

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Bojan also admitted that he feels he made the right choice to retire at a young age: "I felt that the stage of the football player was already very full, very lived, very suffered, very celebrated. I really felt fulfilled for having played in Europe, in the United States and in Japan."

IN THREE PHOTOS:

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Getty Images

WHAT NEXT? Bojan is now a football coordinator at Barca, serving as a liaison between La Masia and the first team. The Blaugrana play Real Sociedad on Saturday.