Barcelona are in the process of identifying potential successors to Sergio Busquets. The 34-year-old midfielder has an expiring contract with the Catalans and seems to be leaving the Spotify Camp Nou next summer for an adventure with Inter Miami in Major League Soccer. Barça chairman Joan Laporta calls Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Rúben Neves one of the options to replace Busquets in the long term.
Everything seems to indicate that Busquets will leave Barcelona at the end of the season. Despite Xavi according to it ASH still want to do everything possible to change the midfielder’s mind, Barça will already have to map out potential replacements. Neves is a name that has been associated with a transfer to the Spotify Camp Nou for several months now. Laporta confirms in an interview with SPORT that the 25-year-old midfielder from the wolves is a candidate to succeed Busquets.
“Neves is a great player, but this is part of private conversations,” said Laporta. “Busquets will not play for Barcelona forever and talks are underway within the club to find him an external successor. Frenkie de Jong can play in Busquet’s position, but one player is not enough. Xavi will ultimately decide on this.” Busquets has been coy about his future, but revealed in November that he wants to make a final decision in February.
After Spain’s elimination in the eighth finals of the World Cup, Busquets already said goodbye to the national team in a statement on social media. The midfielder broke through in 2008 under Pep Guardiola in the first team of Barcelona and has been in the starting line-up ever since. Busquets was hardly injured and has played no fewer than 698 official matches for Barcelona. He rarely scored (18 times), indicated a goal slightly more often (42 assists). Only his former teammates Xavi (767 games) and Messi (778 games) wore it azulgrana more frequently.
Related
More sports news
