With Sergio Busquets’ departure confirmed FC Barcelona will have to look for a replacement and bring in a new pivot over the summer. A number of options are under consideration by the club in this regard.
Recently, Busquets himself made a media appearance in which he talked about the names being considered by the club for his replacement. He names Manchester City’s Rodri as his preferred replacement and also talked favorably about other options, including Kimmich, Zubimendi, and Nico Gonzalez.
Now, the ex-coach of Barcelona B, Garcia Pimienta, has also given his opinion on the best-suited player to replace Busquets, and he has identified Nico to be just the player required by the club according to a report from SPORT.
Pimienta recently made an appearance on the television show “Que t’hi jugues”, where he declared Nico to be the “ideal” player to replace the departing captain.
Pimienta and Nico had worked together when they were both at Barcelona Juvenil. It was here that Pimienta suggested Nico develop a more defensive approach to his game if he wanted to have a shot at getting into the Barcelona first team.
Talking of the player, the current Las Palmas coach particularly praised him for his physicality, strength, ability to win duels, positional awareness, and vertical ball progression.
Nico made his debut with FC Barcelona last season and then went on to Valencia in the last summer transfer window. He has had a mixed season on loan, as he has not been an automatic starter and missed a number of games due to injuries.
Currently, Valencia are fighting relegation, and their result in the match against Real Betis will decide whether they will remain in the top division the next season.
Once he completes his loan at Valencia, he will return to Barcelona, and the club will then make a decision about his future. However, if they accept Pimienta’s suggestion, they can get their next pivot for free, but his lack of experience might mean the club ends up getting another more experienced pivot for the next season.
