Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets has reportedly emerged as a shock target for Bayern Munich, with the Catalans willing to offload him in the summer.
According to a report from Spanish publication AS, Barcelona are prepared to let go of veteran midfielder Sergio Busquets in the upcoming transfer window, with German champions Bayern Munich lining up to sign him.
Busquets has been with Barcelona for fifteen years now, having joined the club’s youth setup back in 2006. Having broken into the first-team under Pep Guardiola in 2008, the 32-year-old soon became a mainstay and has since grown into one of the best and most successful defensive midfielders in the game over the past decade.
Busquets, till date, has amassed a mind-boggling 629 appearances for Barcelona, bagging 15 goals and 41 assists in the process. The veteran midfielder had shown signs of slowing down in recent years but 2020/21 saw him bounce back strongly and perform somewhere near his best levels, helping the Blaugrana to the Copa del Rey triumph.
A legend at Barcelona, it was largely expected that Busquets would eventually retire at the club. However, as per the aforementioned report, the Catalan giants are planning a massive squad overhaul this summer as president Joan Laporta seeks to usher in a new era, which could see quite a few current first-team stars being axed.
Among them are the likes of Ousmane Dembele, Antoine Griezmann, Sergi Roberto, Philippe Coutinho and Jordi Alba, who is already courting interest from Atletico Madrid, while Busquets could also be shown the doors before the next season kicks off. And, interestingly, the 32-year-old midfielder has popped up on the radars of record German champions Bayern Munich.
Bayern Munich are set to kick-start a new era themselves under the tutelage of Julian Nagelsmann, who is taking over from Hansi Flick this summer. The Bavarian giants are in need of a new midfielder given as they did lose David Alaba on a free transfer, with the Austrian signing for Real Madrid recently, while the likes of Marc Roca and Corentin Tolisso are also staring at uncertain futures at the Allianz Arena.
However, the interest in Busquets does come off as a bit questionable considering that he is entering the final phase of his career and would be commanding massive wages, while his suitability to Nagelsmann’s system could also be an issue. It remains to be seen whether there is any truth to these speculations, but as things stand, it seems like the 32-year-old may not be a Barcelona player come next season.
