Global Courant 2023-05-10 20:43:28
Barcelona, Spain.
The captain and legend of Barcelona, Sergio Busquetsannounced this Wednesday that he will leave the Barça club at the end of the current season, after fifteen years in the Barça first team.
“The time has come to announce that this is my last season at Barcelona,” said Busquets, 34, in a video on his official Instagram account.
“I always dreamed of being able to play with this shirt and in this stadium (Camp Nou), but reality has exceeded all dreams,” Busquets said in his video, in which he can be seen at various times in his career.
“Who was going to tell me when I arrived as a youth that I was going to be able to live 15 seasons in the best club in the world,” says the Barça captain, who has spent 18 years at the club.
Busquets leaves Barcelona after 15 seasons in the first team, of which he ended up being a banner after being part of the most successful Barça team, which dominated football in the early 2010s.
Together with the Iniesta, Xavi either Messi He led the blaugranas to win everything with a team that was also admired by their rivals and that was also the base of the 2010 World Cup-winning Spain.
– ‘An honor’ –
“It has been an honor, a pride, a dream. It has been everything to be able to defend and represent this shield for so many years, but everything has a beginning and an end and although it has not been an easy decision, I think the time has come”, stated Busquets.
Busquets He made his debut with the Barça shirt in 2008 at the age of 20 in a league match against Santander Racing (1-1) and from there his progression was unstoppable favored by Pep Guardiola, who did not hesitate to give him stripes in midfield.
The son of Carlos Busquets, who was a Barcelona goalkeeper, ended up displacing Yaya Touré to get a position that would be his for more than a decade.
Since that game, the Spanish midfielder has played 718 games with the Barça shirt, being the third player who has played the most games, only surpassed by Messi and Xavi Hernández, his current coach.
Indisputable in the center of the field, “whatever the coach was, Sergio Busquets has always been a fixture”, recalls Barcelona in a statement.
“If you play for Barça as the undisputed starter for so many years, it’s because you have something special. Sergio plays very well, but above all he makes the rest play better. This is his great virtue, ”he who was his coach, Pep Guardiola, had once assured.
– ‘Barça DNA’ –
“It’s wonderful to have a player in the squad who understands the game very well, who is always well positioned defensively and who has Barça DNA. He is the best pivot in the last 20 years and will be one of the best in history ”, Xavi Hernández had stated.
The Barca coach tried to keep Busquets in the team for another year, according to the press, but the player opted to leave after a career in which he has won everything.
Busquets accumulated a record with Barça of 31 titles, which will rise to 32 if Barcelona wins the 2022/2023 League, something that could already be done at the weekend.
His titles include three Champions, eight Leagues, seven Copas del Rey, three Club World Cups or three European Super Cups, being one of the most successful players in the Barça team.
The Barça captain leaves the club of his life after retiring last December from the Spanish team after the World Cup in Qatar, his last adventure with La Roja, of which he is also a legend.
Busquets also left a difficult gap to fill in the national team, with which he was proclaimed World Champion in 2010 and Europe in 2012.
The Barça midfielder has not made public his eventual destination after leaving Barça, but the Spanish press speculates that he could end up in Saudi Arabia, where Cristiano Ronaldo plays and where Lionel Messi could also end up.
– The salary that Barcelona releases –
Busquets’ departure frees Barcelona’s salary mass, the culé team will stop paying a huge salary. The Spaniard earned about 13 million euros.
The current captain of the Barça squad is leaving despite the intention of both Xavi and the board to keep him for another year. The club offered him a renewal for one season at a rate of 7 million euros, but he did not accept.
