A former FC Barcelona star has insisted that "neither Lionel Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo can be examples for young people".
Bojan Krkic, a player who came through the Catalan club's youth system, has shared his experience of being a young player who saw Messi as an example, but added that because of the unbelievable nature of players like the Argentine and Cristiano Ronaldo, they cannot be role models to young footballers.
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The 33-year-old, who hung up his boots earlier this year after playing for Vissel Kobe in Japan, featured in a documentary in which he revealed the pressures of being a young player at a big club like Barca with the standard of success set by Messi, who some believe to be the greatest player to have ever played the game.
"[The documentary] was something I've always wanted to do. Transfer my experiences as a player," he told Diario AS.
"What people think is very beautiful, but where there is suffering and effort.
"I wanted to explain what I experienced. The reason for my decisions giving a positive message.
"It is not a documentary just for football fans, it goes further, it talks about personal situations and sends the message that Messi is not the example.
"Neither Messi nor Cristiano [Ronaldo] nor Rafa Nadal are ordinary cases, they cannot be the example for young people.
"They are extraordinary. Success is not that, it is only going to happen to them.
"Success can be applied to many scenarios. For me, Sergio Canales is a successful athlete because he has torn his knee three times and has made it to the national team. Joselu, at 33 years old, has arrived in [Real] Madrid. These situations are successful."
Krkic, who made his Barcelona debut at the tender age of just 17 in 2007, also said that young footballers should be given more time to be integrated into the first team, despite whatever financial issues a side may be facing.
Barca are a club in financial turmoil and their situation has played a big role in them handing first-team debuts to teenagers such as Pedri, Gavi, Lamine Yamal and Marc Guiu.
While this may be a dream come true for many players, the former Blaugrana star man emphasised the need to give more value to the youth team.
"A 15-year-old boy already wants to go to train with the reserve team and the 16-year-old boy wants to go to train with the first team, we are normalising something that is not normal," Krkic continued.
"The economic issue has a lot of influence because the teams are as they are and it is almost obligatory to bet on young people.
"The situation makes everyone run too fast and we should all stop it. We are talking about kids at the age of education, children who we should talk to.
"The ideal would be to grow in your own academy. We have to give value to the player who is in the youth team, giving value to being in the youth team, not wanting to move up. This is how you give value to arriving in the first team, because there is a lot of merit in reaching the first team of Madrid, Valencia or City. You have to make the effort valued."
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