Barcelona Must Keep Irreplaceable Sergio Busquets in Top Condition

As far as Luis Enrique is concerned, there is no replacement for Sergio Busquets. In Barcelona’s ranks or elsewhere.

The Asturian coach is the best person to listen to about the midfielder’s qualities because he benefits from them each and every week.

Luis Enrique said, per Sport:

He’s a one-off player. With his physical ability he’s proof that football is played by people who aren’t the fastest, other characteristics are needed. You don’t need to be one of the fastest to do what he does. He’s perfect with pressing, with the ball, a great character, he carries himself well on the field, he’s an irreplaceable player.

It’s not the first time he’s singled Busquets out for praise. In fact, he once claimed that if he could be reincarnated as a current Barcelona player, he would choose Busquets.

“Tall, good looking, nice and a good player,” Lucho joked during a press conference in January. Former Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has said similar.

Busquets turned 28 in the summer and has recently been rewarded for his talent and loyalty with a new contract. It had been a long time coming, but he eventually penned it on September 22 after the deal was agreed in May.

The contract keeps Busquets at Barcelona until June 30, 2021, and it also includes an option for it to be extended for two further years. That would carry him through, pretty much, to the end of his top-level career.

That Luis Enrique considers him such a fundamental piece of the team, and he has been since he effectively displaced Yaya Toure back in the 2008-09 season, makes it all the more surprising that Barcelona dilly-dallied over his future.

Sport’s Albert Masnou revealed in March that there were three offers on the table for Busquets and Barcelona, with Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United all hoping to sign the player, who was worrying about the lack of contact from Barcelona regarding a new deal.

Masnou wrote:

Busquets is not happy. The promise from the president for a new deal is not concrete and his impatience increases with calls from other clubs. He doesn’t know what kind of improvement the president will offer but does know what PSG and the Manchester sides can provide.

[…]

Busquets was promised a while back he would join the top paid players (bar Messi and Neymar), but the club have not been constantly in touch. Barcelona haven’t lost their nerve and are convinced he will end up renewing – because the president will keep his word, because the player will want to stay, and he will be offered a contract in line with his …

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