Bojan Krkic's father has revealed the difficulties the forward had at Barcelona but told the Mail on Sunday: "He is truly content at Stoke City."
Bojan had been expected to make a major impact after breaking through at Barca but, despite a bright start after making his debut aged 17 in the 2007-08 season, he ultimately failed to make the grade.
His father, Bojan Krkic Sr., said his son struggled to cope both with the pressures of the paparazzi and the attitudes of his famous teammates.
"They were international stars," he told the newspaper. "They saw a little boy starting games. Sometimes, Ronaldinho was on the bench and Bojan starts. You can imagine, eh? Not easy. It became very difficult. He wasn't welcomed in by everyone."
His father also said the player found it tougher when Pep Guardiola replaced Frank Rijkaard as coach in the summer of 2008.
"Guardiola didn't give him continuity," he said. "In the Copa del Rey, Bojan was the top goalscorer for Pep. In La Liga, he could score one or two goals, but then not play again for weeks. It is very curious.
"In the title run-in in 2010, he kept [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic on the bench. Bojan played, scoring at Sevilla and Tenerife, and they were decisive goals. Then, when the season ended, they signed David Villa."
He said there had been interest from Manchester United and Chelsea earlier in his son's career, but "Bojan only really wanted to play for Barcelona."
However, the final straw came when he was left on the bench for the 3-1 victory over Manchester United in the 2011 Champions League final, and he made the move to Italian side Roma to play under former Barcelona B coach Luis Enrique.
"In the end, Bojan asked to leave for Roma because Guardiola broke a promise that he would play some part in the Champions League final at Wembley," he said.
However, the Roma move did not work out as hoped, and further spells with AC Milan and Ajax also failed to spark a revival. He eventually made the move to Stoke City and, having gained 3kg of muscle since arriving in England, he is beginning to show signs of a recovering his form under manager Mark Hughes.
"When Hughes was at Man City, he called us and tried to sign Bojan," he said. "When he was at Fulham, he tried to sign Bojan. So when he called again at Stoke, Bojan said he wants to be at a club where he is appreciated and treated well. The name of the club doesn't matter. He wants to enjoy his football. Hughes sat Bojan down and convinced him it was the right move."
He added: "At Stoke, he is playing like an animal. He saves his best for the big games. He loves Mark Hughes and his training sessions are creative. He is playing behind the forward and he has the freedom to express himself but he is fighting for the team, too. He chases everything, he works for the team. Against Arsenal, he ran and ran.
"My boy has suffered a lot in football. Too much. But it is a very long time since I have seen Bojan this happy. He is truly content at Stoke City and, as a father, that's a warm feeling."
Hughes, who played at the Camp Nou in the 1980s, has said he hopes Bojan can follow in the footsteps of his friend Cesc Fabregas and become a leading star in the Premier League.
The Potters boss told a news conference: "Fabregas has been a top player for a long time, but in the future, who knows how good Bojan can be? Nobody knows that at the moment, but we are all encouraged by his ability.
"Fabregas is a player I have a great deal of respect for. We had a little set-to one year, but I was really impressed by his behaviour after and I have a lot of time for him as a person and as a player, so I feel there are also similarities between their personalities.
"They are both outstanding players and humble young men as well."
The "set-to" Hughes referred to came in 2007 after an FA Cup tie between the Blackburn side he was managing at the time and Fabregas' Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, a turgid 0-0 draw.
Fabregas was said to have made a comment to Hughes at the final whistle questioning how a former Barcelona player could employ such negative tactics in a game but, having been initially outraged, Hughes was then impressed that Fabregas apologised to him for the run-in.
Recalling the incident, Hughes said: "I don't think I had any strikers, so I just parked the bus basically. He wasn't happy, but he actually hung around until after I had done all my press to apologise, which showed class."