After 15 seasons and more than 700 appearances, Sergio Busquets has left FC Barcelona. While his unique skillset, experience, and commitment to the club can never be replaced, the Catalans are still looking for another option in the market that can somewhat fill the gap in the squad left by Busquets’ departure.
The Blaugranes have been looking at different options for playing this role in the upcoming season and have been linked with the likes of Kimmich and Ruben Neves. Another player that Barcelona has looked upon favorably for this position is the Spaniard Martin Zubimendi, who currently plies his trade with Real Sociedad.
It has been reported for several months that Zubimendi is Xavi’s favorite to replace their departed captain, and Busquets himself described Zubimendi as the player with the skills most needed for Barcelona’s traditional style of play.
However, the player seems committed to La Real, and Real Sociedad itself did not budge from the player’s €60 million release clause.
As a result, Barcelona’s interest in the player cooled down in recent months. However, Mundo Deportivo reports that Xavi is still adamant that he wants Zubimendi as the player to replace Busquets in the Barcelona squad.
This development has come as the pursuit of Kimmich has also cooled down, with the German not convinced that Barcelona can financially manage to make a move for him in this transfer window.
The report further mentions that the Blaugranes are not offended by Zubimendi’s comments that he would prefer to follow in the footsteps of Illaramendi than of Busquets and see these comments as a normal show of respect by a player to his club. Thus, they can still make an effort to convince the midfielder to join the Catalan club.
However, the financial condition of FC Barcelona would still make any operation for the player extremely difficult. Still, the quality of the player is there to see for everyone, and being only 24 years old now, the player can become a long-term asset for the club if his move can somehow be arranged this summer.
