Barcelona veteran Sergio Busquets reportedly faces a difficult decision this summer as he faces a potentially lesser role under Ronald Koeman moving forward.
The 32-year-old has firmly established himself as a club legend having come through the youth ranks, made nearly 600 appearances for the club while winning a whole host of trophies during his time at the Camp Nou.
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Having made 43 appearances last season, he clearly has plenty left in the tank, but with Koeman being appointed as Quique Setien’s successor last week, that decision could result in a knock-on effect.
As per Sport, it’s suggested that Busquets has a decision to make this summer as he can either accept a lesser role as Frenkie de Jong is expected to be handed a more prominent spot under Koeman, or he can consider an exit and secure a bigger role elsewhere.
It’s stressed that Barcelona will be happy with whatever he decides and so won’t make life difficult for him, and so it remains to be seen what he decides to do as it’s a crossroads moment in his career as well as for the club as a whole given the disappointment last season.
Aside from falling short in the Copa del Rey, they also surrendered their La Liga crown to rivals Real Madrid before being humiliated by Bayern Munich in the Champions League this month.
That in turn has raised the question as to whether or not significant changes now need to be made to the squad to start a new cycle, given the number of ageing stalwarts still in the mix.
Koeman will surely welcome keeping some of that experience and quality around to help usher in a new era of success, but he also won’t want to stunt the growth of the younger players, just as in this example with Busquets and De Jong.
Time will tell how the situation plays out, but Busquets seemingly has a big decision to make as to whether he’ll be happy playing his part at the Camp Nou this season or if he wants to be a main protagonist still, but elsewhere.