Busquets arrived in Barcelona's first team in July 2008 and went on to receive theLa Liga's Breakthrough Player in 2009. From the2009–10 season, he was a first team regular and was a key playing contributor to the club for 14 years, until his departure at the end of the2022–23 season. Busquets made over 700 total appearances for the club, winning 32 trophies, including nineLa Liga titles, sevenCopa del Rey titles and threeUEFA Champions Leagues. With the initial management guidance byPep Guardiola and using thetiki-taka football philosophy, Busquets was part of a widely lauded midfield combination trio withAndrés Iniesta andXavi; from 2008 to 2015 the trio together were instrumental in FC Barcelona's exceptional on-field successes in 7 seasons, winning five La Liga titles, three Copa del Rey titles, three Champions League titles and the continentaltreble (all three titles simultaneously) twice, in2008–09 and2014–15.[8][9][10][11] Busquets announced his retirement from football at the end of the2025 MLS Season.
Busquets made his senior international debut for Spain in April 2009, making 143 appearances for the national side, scoring twice. He helped his country win the2010 FIFA World Cup andUEFA Euro 2012 tournaments, and he also featured at three otherWorld Cups and twoEuropean Championships. He retired from international football following the2022 World Cup.
Born inSabadell, Barcelona, Catalonia, Busquets began playing football with local team Badia del Vallès,[12] followed by spells with Barberà Andalucía,Lleida and Jàbac Terrassa,[13] before joiningBarcelona's youth ranks in 2005.[14] He scored seven goals in 26 games for theJuvenil A team in his second season and, two years later, Busquets was promoted to theB team underPep Guardiola, and helped themachieve promotion to thethird division.[15][16] In that same season, he would make his first-team debut, coming on as asubstitute in theCopa Catalunya.[17]
"Positionally, he seems like a veteran with or without the ball. With the ball he makes what is difficult look easy: he disposes of the ball with one or two touches. Without the ball, he gives us a lesson: that of being in the right place to intercept and running just to recover the ball."
Busquets attending a press conference forBarcelona in 2009
Busquets played his firstLa Liga match on 13 September 2008, featuring 90 minutes in a 1–1 home draw toRacing Santander.[19] During Barcelona's2008–09 UEFA Champions League clash againstBasel atSt. Jakob-Park on 22 October 2008, he scored the second goal in the 15th minute in a 5–0group stage win;[20] in early December, in another start, he scored his second withBarça in the competition, netting in the 83rd minute of a 2–3 home loss againstShakhtar Donetsk.[21]
On 22 December 2008, Busquets signed a contract extension until 2013 with a buy-out clause of €80 million.[22][23] On 7 March 2009, he scored his first league goal, in a 2–0 home win overAthletic Bilbao.[24]
Busquets' fine form continued in the2009–10 campaign,[26][27] with Guardiola preferring him to Touré as Barcelona's central holding midfielder. In the second leg of theChampions League semi-final 1–0 victory (and an eventual 2–3 aggregate defeat) againstInter Milan atCamp Nou on 28 April 2010, he went down to the ground afterThiago Motta had raised his arm and appeared to push Busquets directly in the face.[28] As a result of this action, the former was shown ared card and dismissed for violent conduct, whilst the latter was subsequently criticised by both Motta and the media for apparently feigning injury.[28][29][30][31]
Busquets was again ever-present in2010–11, even playing as acentre back on occasions.[32][33] On 27 January 2011, he signed a contract extension that would keep him at the club until 2015 – the buyout clause was increased to €150 million.[34] On 8 March 2011, playing at centre back, he scored anown goal from acorner kick againstArsenal, inthe season's Champions League round-of-16, levelling the score at 1–1; Barcelona eventually won the game 3–1 (and 4–3 on aggregate).[35] On 28 May, Busquets played the full match during his side's 3–1Champions league final victory againstManchester United atWembley.[36]
Busquets scored a rare goal on 24 April 2012 – only his sixth official one in four years – netting from an easy tap-in after anIsaac Cuenca cross to make it 1–0 for the hosts in the second leg of theChampions League semi-finals againstChelsea. Barcelona could only draw 2–2 against ten men as the English club came back from being 0–2 down; his team eventually lost 2–3 on aggregate, after already having lost 1–0 in the first leg atStamford Bridge.[37]
On 16 July 2013, the day he celebrated his 25th birthday, Busquets agreed to a new deal until 2018, with the buyout clause remaining unaltered.[38] On 1 August 2014, after the retirement of long time club captain and defenderCarles Puyol and at the veteran's personal request, he was given the number 5 shirt forthe upcoming campaign and was named one of the four captains for the club alongsideXavi,Andrés Iniesta andLionel Messi.[39]
On 3 October 2015, Busquets captained Barcelona for the first time in the absence of regular captain Iniesta and vice-captain Messi in a 1–2away defeat toSevilla.[42]
Busquets in 2021
Busquets opened the scoring in a 3–0 win againstLas Palmas on 1 October 2017, with the match being played behind closed doors at theCamp Nou due to the ongoingCatalan independence referendum.[43] Around a year later, he signed a new contract until June 2023, which increased his buyout clause from €200 million to €500 million.[44] On 24 November 2018 he played his 500th game for Barcelona away toAtlético Madrid,[45] and he made his 100th Champions League appearance on 11 December, in a 1–1group stagehome draw againstTottenham Hotspur.[46]
On 23 June 2023,Inter Miami announced that they had signed Busquets.[52] On 16 July, Busquets officially signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with Inter Miami.[53] He was also joined at the club with former Barcelona teammates Messi andJordi Alba, and later followed byLuis Suárez at the end of 2023. He won his first title with the club on 20 August 2023, helping Inter Miami beatNashville SC in the2023 Leagues Cup final.[54] On 7 March, Busquets and Inter Miami made their debuts in theCONCACAF Champions Cup against Nashville SC.[55] He would assist inLuis Suárez's stoppage time equalizing goal, helping the first leg end 2–2.[56] On 20 April 2024, Busquets scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 win over Nashville SC.[57]
On 25 September 2025, Busquets announced that he would be retiring from football at the end of the MLS season.[58]
Busquets was selected by managerVicente del Bosque for the2010 World Cup in the same country, assuming the holding midfielder role naturalized BrazilianMarcos Senna had previously occupied in the conquest ofUEFA Euro 2008.[67] He played all of the tournament's games and minutes for the eventual world champions, save the last 30 minutes of the 0–1 group-stage loss againstSwitzerland inDurban.[68] He finished the tournament with the third–highest pass success rate, alongside his teammate Puyol, completing 88% of his passes.[69]
AtUEFA Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine, Busquets played every minute as Spain won the title, and he was named in the Team of the Tournament.[70][71] On 8 September 2014, he scored his first international goal in a 5–1 win overMacedonia duringEuro 2016's qualifying phase.[72] His second came during the same tournament on 15 November, in the 3–0 defeat ofBelarus inHuelva.[73] He was selected for the final tournament in France.[74]
On 7 October 2020, Busquets captained the Spanish for the first time in a goalless friendly draw away to Portugal, asSergio Ramos was on the bench.[77] The following May, he was included inLuis Enrique's24-man squad forUEFA Euro 2020. In the absence of Ramos, he was named captain.[78] He tested positive forCOVID-19 eight days before Spain's first game, causing the entire squad to withdraw from their final warm-up match againstLithuania.[79] He missed the first two group games – both draws – before returning to the team for the third, in which he was voted man of the match by UEFA for a 5–0 win overSlovakia.[80][81] Four days later, in their round of 16 match againstCroatia, Busquets was again named the man of the match in his team's 5–3 extra time victory.[82] In the quarter-finals, he hit the post with Spain's first kick of thepenalty shootout against Switzerland, though his team prevailed.[83]
At the2022 World Cup, Busquets captained the national team during the tournament in Qatar.[86] In the round of 16, he missed a penalty during the penalty shootouts againstMorocco, which ended in a 3–0 defeat after a goalless draw.[87]
On 16 December 2022, Busquets announced his retirement from international football, having made 143 appearances over a 14-year period.[88]
"He's one of the greatest talents that has been given to Spanish football. This is a discovery. The first time I saw Busquets playing, I called a friend and said: ‘I saw a player from an extinct species’. He's a star."
Considered by several pundits to be one of the best midfielders of his generation, and one of the greatest holding midfielders of all time,[3][4][90][5] Busquets is usually deployed as either acentral ordefensive midfielder, although he is also capable of playing as acentral defender.[91] Busquets is known for redefining the deep-lying midfield position by focusing on football intelligence, precision passing, and a ‘genius’ ability to read the game rather than overwhelming strength or physicality.[92] A hard-working player, he excels at intercepting loose balls and breaking down opposition plays due to his positional sense, defensive attributes, tackling, tactical intelligence, and ability to read the game, despite his lack of pace.[18][91][93][94][95] Due to his vision, ball control, physical prowess, technical skills, calm composure on the ball, and accurate passing ability, he rarely relinquishes possession, and alongside his former Barcelona midfield teammates, such asIniesta,Xavi andIvan Rakitić, he has also played an important creative role in setting his team's tempo in midfield as adeep-lying playmaker through his short passing game.[93][96][97][98][99][100][101] His role has also been likened to that of ametodista ("centre-half," in Italian football jargon), due to his ability to dictate play in midfield as well as assist his team defensively.[102] His position and playing style have led him to be compared to his former manager, as well as fellow former Spain and Barcelona player, Pep Guardiola.[103]
ManagerVicente del Bosque praised Busquets, saying: "If you watch the whole game, you won't see Busquets—but watch Busquets, and you will see the whole game."[104] The latter's height also allows him to be effective in the air, and enables him to advance into more offensive positions on occasion, providing an additional attacking outlet for his team.[105]Busquets has been accused ofplay-acting in the past, due to his tendency of exaggerating fouls. However, in response to these criticisms, he defended his behavior asintelligent, arguing that the realities of the game are more complex.[94][106]
Often considered to be one of the most underrated footballers in the world,[107] Busquets earned praise from his peers, with current club teammateMessi saying "When there will be trouble, Busquets will always be there."[108]
Busquets' father,Carles, was also a footballer. He played as agoalkeeper for Barcelona for several years during the 1990s, although almost exclusively as a backup.[109]
In 2014, Busquets started a relationship with Elena Galera. They have three sons, Enzo, Levi and Romeo.[110][111][112] He has an Arabic tattoo on his left forearm translating to "A thing for you, the life in my country", dedicated to his maternal grandfather to whom he was very close.[113]
^"Trata de arrancarlo, Pep" [Get this thing started, Pep].Marca (in Spanish). Madrid. 13 September 2008.Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved9 July 2014.
^"Vuelve el espectáculo" [Showtime is back].Marca (in Spanish). 7 March 2009.Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved8 May 2017.
^"Los Busquets hacen historia" [The Busquets make history].Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 29 May 2009.Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved8 May 2017.
^"Crónica del España – Turquía: 1–0" [Spain – Turkey match report: 1–0] (in Spanish). Europa Press. Europa Press. 29 March 2009.Archived from the original on 7 November 2017. Retrieved8 May 2017.
^España, Madrid (2 September 2023)."La Liga BBVA 2015/16 Team of the Season".Liga de Fútbol Profesional. La Liga. Archived from the original on 18 November 2018. Retrieved2 September 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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