With nearly 2600 minutes to his name in 2021/22, Sergio Busquets is Xavi’s most used player of the season, closely followed only by Marc-André ter Stegen, the team’s undisputed starter between the sticks. But Busquets is also 33 and has been around since Pep Guardiola’s tenure in the Catalan capital. Since then, managers have come and gone, players were sold and bought again, staff members let go and reappointed and crises started and averted. But Busquets has been one of the only solid constants throughout this story.
Ever since his debut, he’s been almost untouchable in the role that is now synonymous with his profile, for better or worse. As years went by, Barcelona haven’t been able to properly replace him. Not for the lack of trying though. But despite some names being whispered in the academy, none are ready to step up just yet and new acquisitions like Frenkie de Jong are still showing glimpses of their brilliance but their profiles don’t perfectly fit the Busquets mould Barcelona is after. This, as we’ve already discussed in a prior analysis, isn’t necessarily a bad thing but also isn’t something the club, or Xavi for that matter, are seriously considering. At least not for now.
This brings us to the very core of this piece. If there’s no one in LaMasia currently capable of relieving Busquets and the first-team squad also lacks such a profile, who can replace him then? The market is a vast but also a very expensive place. And Barcelona are, sadly, a child with no money looking at the most expensive toys through the shop window.