Barcelona Must Keep Irreplaceable Sergio Busquets in Top Condition
As far as Luis Enrique is concerned, there is no replacement for Sergio Busquets. In Barcelona's ranks or elsewhere.
The Asturian coach is the best person to listen to about the midfielder's qualities because he benefits from them each and every week.
Luis Enrique said, perĀ Sport:
"He's a one-off player.Ā With his physical ability he's proof that football is played by people who aren't the fastest, other characteristics are needed. You don't need to be one of the fastest to do what he does. He's perfect with pressing, with the ball, a great character, he carries himself well on the field, he's an irreplaceable player.
"
It's not the first time he's singled Busquets out for praise. In fact, he once claimed that if he could be reincarnated as a current Barcelona player, he would choose Busquets.
"Tall, good looking, nice and a good player," Lucho joked during a press conference in January. Former Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has said similar.
Busquets turned 28 in the summer and has recently been rewarded for his talent and loyalty with a new contract. It had been a long time coming, but he eventually penned it on September 22 after the deal was agreed in May.
The contract keeps Busquets at Barcelona until June 30, 2021, and it also includes an option for it to be extended for two further years. That would carry him through, pretty much, to the end of his top-level career.
That Luis Enrique considers him such a fundamental piece of the team, and he has been since he effectively displaced Yaya Toure back in the 2008-09 season, makes it all the more surprising that Barcelona dilly-dallied over his future.
Sport's Albert Masnou revealed in March that there were three offers on the table for Busquets and Barcelona, with Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United all hoping to sign the player, who was worrying about the lack of contact from Barcelona regarding a new deal.
Masnou wrote:
"Busquets is not happy. The promise from the president for a new deal is not concrete and his impatience increases with calls from other clubs. He doesn't know what kind of improvement the president will offer but does know what PSG and the Manchester sides can provide.
[...]
Busquets was promised a while back he would join the top paid players (bar Messi and Neymar), but the club have not been constantly in touch. Barcelona haven't lost their nerve and are convinced he will end up renewing - because the president will keep his word, because the player will want to stay, and he will be offered a contract in line with his performance.
"
The same newspaper then reported in April that Busquetsā patience was being tested to its limits, as he waited for a deal that reflects his importance in the coachās eyes.
Eventually, Barcelona agreed a one-year extension of their deal with Qatar Airways for shirt sponsorship, and that allowed the club more freedom to attend to various issues, including Busquetsā contract.
"The truth is that I never saw myself leaving Barca," said Busquets, wiping his hands of the issue. "All negotiations have their own process, I would have liked it to be a bit faster, but I'm very happy."
And with the deal, Barcelonaās midfield future was secured. Because while Ivan Rakitic and especially Andres Iniesta are essential players, both can be covered for more easily than when Busquets is unavailable.
With Andre Gomes and Denis Suarez, Barcelona have ābetā on two possible future Iniestas. In Rafinha, they have a player that will run his socks off like Rakitic.
But there is no new Busquetsāapart from, perhaps, Sergi Samper. The talented cantera player, like Busquets, played his way through La Masia, and Barcelona fans have high hopes for him. Certainly, Samper has the eye for a pass and the composure on the ball that his reference point possesses.
Luis Enrique sent him off to Granada on loan this season, hoping playing time in the top flight will benefit him like it did Denis.
So far he has not set the world alight in Andalusia, although the problem goes far deeper than Samper, with coach Paco Jemez sacked after just six gamesātwo points from six games took Granada down to 19thĀ in the table and was their worst start to a season since 1944-45.
Samper may come good, but for now, the only Busquets is Busquets. Gomes, Sergi Roberto and Javier Mascherano have been used in the pivot role to varying degrees of success, but none of them can do what the Badia-born man is capable of.
Barcelona had a glimpse of what life would be like without Busquets last seasonāwhile he was still in the team. Because there are no adequate replacements for him, he played most of the games and grew fatigued.
In March, he began to flag and looked a shadow of himself. Busquets was in the team, but it wasnāt the same midfielder who runs Barcelonaās game. He had lead in his legs and a broken finger as a further distraction to boot.
At that point in the season, he had played 3,356 minutes, behind only Luis Suarez,Ā perĀ Sport's Javier Miguel.
The coach is being more careful with Busquets this season, as evidenced by resting him for the clash with Leganes at Butarque. Without his midfield linchpin, Lucho reshuffled the whole formation.
Barcelona are employing a rotation policy, but that hurts more when the one being rotated is Busquets. Although they romped to a 5-1 victory, without the control the long-legged maestro offers in the middle, Barcelona looked lost for swathes of the first half.
Individual brilliance from the forward line ended up solving the game for them, but there was equal parts madness and method, whereas the balance is usually tilted towards the latter.
Busquets had been the only player to start all six Barcelona games before the Leganes clash. "The player that is going to rest least is Busquets, for his specialty in that position," said Luis Enrique ahead of the game, contrary to the end.
It was actually his mistake against Borussia Monchengladbach in the week that allowed the Germans to take the lead, losing the ball in the middle of the pitchāalthough he wasnāt offered many outs by his team-mates.
Because he errs so infrequently, it was jarring, although it didnāt affect the rest of his display, which improved in the second period as he was able to open up a bit more and help Barcelona move forward after Paco Alcacer had been replaced and the formation changed.
To sum Busquets up, his own words do as smooth a job as he does on the pitch.
Asked about not being included on the Ballon dāOr shortlist, he told TV3: "It's not something I prioritise or something I've given value to. What I think is more valuable is what my team-mates say.Ā I care a lot more about praise from coaches, team-mates and football people than the opinions of a jury who are interested in players with a big media profile. That's not me."
And he will keep on being praised to the rafters by his own coach and many others, just as long as he keeps anchoring Barcelona's midfieldāwhich will be for years to come, while Luis Enrique manages the catch-22 situation.
Busquets must play for Barcelona to be at their best, but Busquets must rest to be at his best.
RikĀ SharmaĀ is Bleacher Report's lead Barcelona correspondent. All information and quotes obtained firsthand unless specified. Follow him on Twitter here:Ā @riksharma_.
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