José Manuel Pinto Colorado

José Manuel Pinto joined Barça on 18 January 2008 from Celta, the club he had played for during the previous ten seasons. He came on loan but FC Barcelona signed him permanently at the end of the 2007/08 season.

Born in Puerto de Santa Maria (Cádiz) on November 8, 1975, Pinto start his professional career in Andalucia. After spending three seasons with Real Betis's B side, he moved up to the first team and made his debut for the club during the 1997/98 campaign. A year later he agreed to move to Celta Vigo, where would spend the next decade before leaving to go to Camp Nou.

After being replaced by Toni Prats at Betis, Pinto opted to join Celta and it was there that he found stability and was awarded the captain's armband. He went on to play 126 games in la Primera, 56 matches in la Segunda A as well as appearing in the Champions League and the UEFA Cup regularly with the club. As well as helping the side to qualify for the Champions League in 2003/04, Pinto won the Zamora Trophy as the best keeper in the league in 2005/06.

That year, Pinto conceded just 28 goals in 37 league matches (an average of 0.75 per game) and helped guide the team to sixth place in the top flight and into the UEFA Cup. The season before had seen Víctor Valdés win the Zamora.

When playing for Celta in the Second Division, FC Barcelona bought him in the January transfer window as cover for Albert Jorquera, sidelined with a long-term knee injury. He came on loan but FC Barcelona signed him permanently at the end of the 2007/08 season, during which he made his League debut away at Deportivo and then played in two more matches.

In the 2008/09 season, Guardiola made Pinto his first choice stopper in the cup. The Andalusian played every game in the competition and performed especially well in the semi final, saving a penalty from Mallorca’s Martí, which could have complicated Barcelona’s qualification. He also played the last games of the league campaign, thus ensuring Valdés won the Zamora Trophy.

PROFILE

Pinto is a strong goalkeeper, standing at 1.85m tall and weighing 82kg. His height and agility make him powerful in the air and he also has very quick reflexes to help him make a quick-reaction save when required. It is those reflexes that also make him a superb shot-stopper from close range, but he is not easy to beat from distance either.

HONOURS

FC Barcelona
2009/10 European Super Cup  
2009/10 Spanish Super Cup
2008/09 Champions League
2008/09 Liga
2008/09 Copa del Rey

Celta de Vigo
2001/02 Copa del Rey Runner-Up

Individual Awards
2005/06 Spanish League Zamora

Bojan Krkic Pérez

Bojan Krkic joins the senior squad for the 2006-07 season at the tender age of 16. In just one year he has progressed from the youth side to Barça B and now the first team.

Bojan Krkic was born in Linyola (Catalonia) on 28th August 1990. In just one season, from 2006-07 to 2007-08, this promising young forward has made the leap from Juvenil A to the first team. Along the way he played the second part of the season with Barça B in Second Division B.

Bojan joined Barça in 1999 becoming part of the Benjamí A boys squad. His rise through the ranks of the Barça academy teams was meteoric: Aleví B (2000-01), Aleví A (2001-02), Infantil B (2002-03), Infantil A (2003-04) and Cadet B (2004-05). He started the 2005-06 season with the Cadet A team but was soon promoted up to Juvenil A. The pattern was repeated in the 2006-07 season, which he began with Juvenil A and finished with Barça B.

During his half season with Barça B, he scored 10 goals and became the team’s top scorer. 

He really arrived on the scene in 2007. He played in the European Under-17 Championship with Spain, both winning the tournament and scoring the winner against England in the final (1-0); he made his debut with Barça’s first team in a friendly played in Egypt, scoring once; and finally he made his debut with Spain’s Under-21 side at the age of just 16. A year to remember to be sure.

Bojan began the 2007/08 preseason with the first team. However, he couldn’t go on the club’s Asia tour as he was called up for the World Under-17 Cup in South Korea, where he notched 5 goals and Spain finished as runners-up.

Back in Barcelona, he began to get time on the pitch with Rijkaard in both the League and the Champions League. He set new records as Barça’s youngest player in the Champions League (on 19 September 2007 against Olympique de Lyon, when aged 17 years and 22 days); Barça’s youngest goalscorer (against Villarreal on 20 October in the same year, aged 17 years, 1 month and 22 days); and the second youngest goalscorer in the Champions League (aged 17 years and 217 days when he scored against Schalke 04, just 22 days later than Oforiquaye, the youngest goalscorer in the Champions League).

Thus the 2007/08 season consolidated Bojan as one of the finest strikers in the League, in which he scored 10 goals and was in the starting line-up 14 times.

In the 2008/09 season, Bojan scored two League goals, but contributed more to the 25th cup title in club history. Guardiola used him in both the cup and league as a player that could come on as sub and change the course of matches.

PROFILE

Bojan is fast and has the ability to go past his marker. Despite his youth, he is used to dealing with defenders that are stronger and more experienced than him. His bursts of speed and his skill with the ball at his feet are two of his virtues. However, his main strength is his killer instinct in front of goal.

HONOURS

FC Barcelona
2009/10 European Super Cup  
2009/10 Spanish Super Cup 
2008/09 Champions League
2008/09 Liga
2008/09 Copa del Rey

Spain
2007 European under-17 Champion
2007 World Cup under-17 Runner-up