FC Barcelona captain Sergio Busquets, a Barça legend, announced on Wednesday that he would leave the Catalan club at the end of the season, aged 34, after having spent his entire career there.
“The time has come to announce that this season is my last with FC Barcelona,” said the three-time Champions League winner in a video on his Instagram account.
In fifteen professional seasons in the Blaugrana jersey, Busquets has won 31 trophies. In addition to the 2009, 2011 and 2015 Champions Leagues, he has notably won eight Spanish league titles, seven national cups and three club world cups.
His 32nd title is only a matter of days away, as Barcelona leads La Liga with 13 points ahead of runners-up Atlético Madrid, five games from the end.
He was also world champion (2010) and Europe (2012) with Spain.
“I had always dreamed of being able to play with this shirt and in this stadium (of the Camp Nou), but the reality has exceeded all my dreams”, raves this tireless defensive midfielder in his video, illustrated with images from different moments. highlights of his career.
“Who could have told me, when I arrived at the young people (at 17, editor’s note), that I was going to live 15 seasons in the best club in the world?”, He asks again.
Busquets was one of the pillars of Barça’s golden generation, which dominated Europe in the early 1990s, along with Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi. Endowed with an exceptional technique in his position, he was served by his intelligence of situations and his ability to orient the game.
He is also one of the very few Champions League winners whose father had already lifted the trophy, since he is the son of Carles Busquets, Barça goalkeeper and winner of the competition in 1992.
To date, Busquets has played 718 matches with FC Barcelona. Only Messi and Xavi have done better.
In his message announcing his departure, he does not reveal anything about his future, but the press recently raised the possibility of a transfer to Saudi Arabia, where Cristiano Ronaldo is already playing, and where Lionel Messi could also leave. Some rumors send him to Al-Nassr, the formation of “CR7”, others evoke the club of Al-Hilal.
