The former Barcelona and Spain midfielder, Sergio Busquets Joins Inter Miami as a free agent. The 34-year-old will be reunited with his friend and ex-Barça teammate Lionel Messi after not renewing his contract at the Camp Nou at the end of an 18-year stay.
Inter Miami made the news official by posting a video on social media showing quotes from people such as Pep Guardiola, Xavi Hernández, Luka Modric and Messi praising Busquets.
The former Barcelona captain, who retired from international duty last year, played more than 700 games for the Spanish champions, winning nine La Liga championships, seven Copa del Rey titles, three Champions Leagues and three Club World Cups.
Busquets was also linked with moves to the Saudi Arabian league as Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr made bids for his services. Miami are reportedly looking to sign a third former Barcelona player, the left-back Jordi Alba, who is also leaving the Spanish club.
This move is expected to improve Inter Miami’s standings in the MLS. Currently, Inter Miami CF is ranked last in the Eastern Conference of MLS. With the addition of Sergio Busquets Joins Inter Miami, Lionel Messi had joined Inter Miami and on the path to redefining what it means to be an MLS team in the transfer market. Gerardo Martino, who was appointed as manager on Wednesday, believes that Messi and Busquets are coming to Miami to fight for titles.
Simo Idrissi shared his thoughts on this move: “Soccer games controlled by physical elements such as speed, force and well conditioned also controlled by cognitive functiones such as mental strength and skills. when players reached 32 years old the performance decrease and even the long time injuries could trun older players to perform weakly. In the case of Messi and Busquets, If MLS teams have enough younger and talented or well physically conditioned players, both players and any similar types could face many challenges and even the results will not improve. MLS league system is not the same as other international leagues where a two last club dropped to the below level league and the first two teams of the below levels promote to the first division. MLS teams can rank last in the standing and will not have any issue. So brining opder players is a matter of fun and bring a prevuis starts to MLS to make this league shine. I would encourage MLS to develop players and turned them stars, it is not deficult for America to produce skilled and intellegent players. So, to be clear and precide I doubt that these two players would add any thing to MLS league.”
I commented on Simo Idrissi’s thoughts: “You make some good points about the physical and cognitive demands of soccer, and how performance can decrease with age. It’s true that older players may face challenges in a league with younger and physically well-conditioned players. It’s also interesting to note the differences between the MLS league system and other international leagues, and how bringing older players to the MLS can be a matter of fun and bringing previous stars to the league to make it shine. Developing homegrown talent is certainly important for any league, and it will be interesting to see how Inter Miami and the MLS as a whole continue to develop in the future.”
What do you think about this move? Do you think it will help Inter Miami improve their standings in the MLS?