Sergio Busquets wants to play with Leo Messi again

BarcelonaSergio Busquets has no intention of delaying the decision on his future for much longer. After almost 15 seasons in the Barça first team, the captain believes that he still has the rope to, at the very least, play another couple or three years. He has to choose, however, where he wants to do it. On the table he is weighing three possible scenarios: to continue with Blaugrana for one more season, to leave for Inter Miami of the MLS or to accept the rain of money from Saudi Arabia. “Right now, he continues to weigh the three options. He has not decided, he continues to evaluate the pros and cons of the three possible scenarios”, they told ARA from the environment of the Badia del Vallès midfielder.

Of course, they place the time that number 5 will take to decide his future in approximately “three weeks”. “No deadline has been set, but he doesn’t want to extend it until the end of the season either.” Before choosing his path, Busquets also wants to know what his good friend Leo Messi will do, who is still without renewal with PSG. It is not that the decision of the current world champion with Argentina conditions his relief in the captaincy of Barça, but it is “a factor that can tip the balance”: “It is no secret that they are friends and who get along very well.” Xavi is confident in the continuity of the 34-year-old midfielder, but has already admitted on numerous occasions that the decision already “only depends on Busi”.

Busquets, who is out of contract this year, already has Barça’s proposal on the table: to renew for one season – only one course, without any other optional ones – and start receiving less than half of the emoluments he received until now. In fact, he would receive between 60 and 70% less of his current income, which is that of a tab above 10 million net euros per season (a little more than 20 million gross). If he stays, Busquets would agree to collect these amounts because, as they say from those around him, it would be a decision based “on feelings and not on money”. In the same way that if Messi – with whom Buquets, Jordi Alba and their respective partners had dinner in mid-February in Barcelona – returns to Barça it will not be for an economic issue.

Busquets accepts the new terms proposed by Barça

The footballer continues to ponder this proposal that the club sent him a couple of weeks ago. If he has not yet accepted it, it is not because he does not agree with the terms, since the captain is aware of the economic reality of the entity. In case of giving it the green light, it would only be necessary to finish polishing “some fringes”, related to some of the variables of the new contract that would link him with Barça until June 2024. The entity has only met once in in an official way with Busquets’ representation and lawyers, which is when they sent him this substantially reduced proposal.

When deciding, he will also take into account his immediate family environment. Finishing his career in the United States has always seduced the captain, a future plan that he shares, precisely, with Messi. Inter Miami, chaired by David Beckham and whose business director is ex-Barça executive Xavier Asensi, dreams of bringing them both together. The American adventure has the attraction of a family project in Miami, while the best financial offers come from teams in Saudi Arabia. In the Persian Gulf they would bathe Buquets d’or. It is the destination chosen by Cristiano Ronaldo, who earns 200 million euros gross per year at Al-Nassr.

Xavi’s insistence that Busquets stay

If after the World Cup, in December, it seemed clear that Busquets would use up the last year of his contract at Barça and leave at the end of the season, Xavi’s insistence and the opportunity to reunite with Messi may end up tipping the scales because follow one more course of Blaugrana. Faced with the difficulty of signing Real Sociedad pivot Martin Zubimendi, whom the manager would like as a replacement, the Egarenco has asked the captain and friend to continue for at least one more year. Zubimendi has a clause of 60 million euros, prohibitive with the current reality of the Barça economy.

This Saturday, if he plays against Elche – which he will -, Busquets will have played a minimum of 23 League games for 15 consecutive seasons. With Barça, only Messi has achieved this, Barça TV journalist Jaume Marcet recalled on the networks. Badia has a big decision ahead of him and, although he wouldn’t want to delay it for more than a couple or three weeks, he would like to know what Messi is doing. The Argentine, unhappy in Paris, hopes to know what sporting project PSG has in mind for him, but this is a difficult question to resolve: the coach Christophe Galtier is practically sentenced after the Parisians were eliminated in the Champions League, and the sporting director, Luis Campos, is also not assured of the chair despite the fact that he has not been in office for a year.