Sergio Busquets: Farewell to the genius who made the difficult easy

“Greetings to the Cullers: The moment has come to announce that this will be my last season in Barcelona”. With these words, Sergio Busquets (Badia del Vallès, 1988) announced his departure from the team on June 30, at the end of his contract. The Barça team says goodbye to a footballer who marked an era in the club. The player who became the owner of the Barça midfield. At the age of 34, he communicated the news that he had shared with his colleagues the day before through the subject’s social networks, but also Joan Laporta already Xavi Hernandez.

“You have Messi, Iniesta, Xavi… But Busquets is the one who does everything well,” said Pep Guardiola about him. its discoverer. The coach made his debut with the first team on September 13, 2008, during the visit of Racing de Santander at Camp Nou, on the second day of the League. The son of the legendary Barcelona goalkeeper, Carlos Busquets, always stood out for not wanting to stand out. All he had to say was about the field. He was never a media player. Little friend of fame and eccentricity of the elite. That elegance and discretion that he knew how to show on the field also moved into his life.

With the departure of Sergio Busquets, Barcelona ends an era that marked the change of modern football. His tactical intelligence, which made him always be in the right place at the right time, crowned him as an immovable player of the defensive midfield club. He was the last remaining footballer from the golden era of the Barça team.

“Who would have told me when I arrived as a young man that I could live fifteen seasons in the best team in the world, the club of my life I was, am and will be a fan, partner, player and captain? And be able to exceed 700 games?”, asks the football player.

A boy who grew up in Barcelona, ​​who came through its branches, made it to the first team and shone until he became one of the best midfielders in the history of football. Fifteen seasons is not a little, but it has been clear to the captain for a long time that his time has passed. Piqué’s departure made him think more about a subject he already had doubts about. The moment has arrived. Busi leaves the team of his life as a league champion, although all after the bad trajectory of the Catalans in recent years, without a chance to win important championships and with the departures of emblematic players, with Leo Messi at the helm, not forgetting Gerardo Offense.

And, in this sense, he pointed out that for so many years it was an “honor, dream and pride” to wear the Barça jersey, but he admitted that “everything has a beginning and an end”.

Puyol’s number 5

Xavi Hernández’s intention was to have his captain for one more season. The coach transferred that request to the office, and Joan Laporta offered Sergio Busquets to the seniors that year. But the Badia del Vallès midfielder has already made up his mind. He was leaving.

Barcelona made him a lower offer, charging 30% less than what he is getting at this exchange rate, 23 million gross. Busquets’ entourage have always been keen to make it clear that money is not the fundamental issue, but at 34 he can still sign a juicy contract in the United States, Qatar or Saudi Arabia. The latter, on the other hand, seems to be the most likely destination for him, since he has an offer to finish his sports career there.

Number 5, the one Carles Puyol asked him to inherit when the centre-back announced his retirement, is now without an owner.

Busquets is leaving Barcelona after 15 seasons, in which he won 31 titles so far (8 Leagues, 7 Copa del Rey, 7 Spanish Super Cups, 3 Champions Leagues, 3 World Club Championships and 3 European Super Cups). It will certainly be 32, if the Catalans are declared league champions this weekend in the derby against Espanyol.

The end in Barcelona comes half a year after his departure from the Spanish team, for which Busquets has played 143 games since his debut on April 1, 2009 in Istanbul, with Vicente del Bosque on the bench. The former Spanish coach, in love with his game, admitted his desire without any difficulty. If I were born again, I would be reincarnated as Busquets, said the coach. There is nothing.

The midfielder announced his farewell to the national team after losing to Morocco, on penalties, in the round of 16 of the World Cup in Qatar. With the national team, Busquets won the Eurocup in Poland and Ukraine in 2012 and the World Cup in South Africa in 2010.

A football player who won all possible titles. Extra time on the field of their coaches. Sergio Busquets will say goodbye to Barcelona by lifting the title. His last drink dressed in blaugrana. Goodbye captain.

Jordi Alba’s future is also up in the air

Reducing the wage bill is one of Barcelona’s goals. The first to alleviate the economic situation was Gerard Piqué. Now, with the departure of Busquets, the burden of payments and debts will be a little easier. The captain, along with Jordi Alba, appears among the highest payrolls of the entity.

Salary from Sunrise and Busquets exceeds 20 million euros gross per season. In addition, the club still owes them about 70% of the amount that they agreed to postpone at the time, in order to adapt to the situation in which the club found itself. As part of this cost-cutting process, Barcelona is through Mateu Alemany and from Jordi Cruyff, Yesterday he held a meeting with Jordi Alba’s representatives to assess the future of the Barca left-back, who has one year left on his contract.

Alba, who has been at the club for eleven years, receives one of the biggest tokens in the squad, which will increase exponentially over the next year, due to agreed deferred payments due to the pandemic. The L’Hospitalet de Llobregat winger could get around 18 million euros net. For this reason and because Barcelona must increase its fair play of finance, believes that the reduction in the case of Alba is essential for achieving the goals it is striving for.

This is why Mateu Alemany and Jordi Cruyff met with representatives of Barcelona, ​​according to various pictures recorded in the parking lot of the Joan Gamper sports complex.

There were several scenarios on the table: termination of the contract to be able to negotiate with another club, or a significant reduction in wages by the player.

The departure of Sergio Busquets and the unlikely arrival of Leo Messi, the two players closest to Alba in the Barça dressing room, lends support to the idea that the defender’s days at Barcelona are coming to an end, and Arabia could be the destination to put the three together.