With the official announcement that Sergio Busquets will accompany Leo Messi on his adventure in the MLS, Inter Miami seems very interested in ‘recreating’ one of Barcelona’s most brilliant eras, an ambitious project that could also be joined by Jordi Alba and Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino on the bench.
After months of rumors, Inter Miami published a video on their social networks on Friday confirming the signing of Busquets and praising the midfielder of soccer stars such as Pep Guardiola or Luka Modric.
Even so, no compliment was more special than the one that Messi, Busquets’s former teammate at Barcelona, ??gave him in his day and who also included this video: “On the pitch, always with the number 5, but in reality, as a player and as a person You’re a 10”.
Inter Miami ended the clip with the word “BuSí”, a nod to Busquets’ nickname (Busi) and also to the announcement with which they made Messi’s arrival in MLS official (“MesSí”).
About to turn 35, Busquets, after having dedicated his entire sports career to Barcelona, ??faces his first adventure abroad in Miami after a splendid career in European football.
The midfielder, who rejected offers to play in Saudi Arabia, won 32 titles with the Catalans (9 Leagues, 7 Copas del Rey, 7 Spanish Super Cups, 3 Champions Leagues, 3 Club World Cups and 3 European Super Cups).
Busquets was the compass and the anchor of Barcelona and also left a major mark on the Spanish team, with which they won the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 Euro Cup.
According to the Miami Herald newspaper, which cited a source close to the negotiations, Busquets will occupy one of the three ‘designated player’ places at Inter Miami.
The ‘designated player’ figure, created by MLS in 2007 to be able to bring David Beckham (one of the owners now of Inter Miami) to the LA Galaxy, allows teams to circumvent salary limits to deal with certain flashy signings.
Messi, logically, will occupy another of those three “designated player” positions, so the Inter Miami board of directors will have to move in the offices since for this course it already had three footballers under that type of contract: the Venezuelan Josef Martínez, the Mexican Rodolfo Pizarro and the Brazilian Gregore.
Of those three names, Martínez is the one with the most prominent rank in the team and in MLS. As an example, the Venezuelan attacker became the fastest player to reach 100 goals in league history in May.
The management of the ‘designated players’ seems a key point in the conversations for Alba to consolidate the Barcelona tone of this Inter Miami, a signing that has also appeared in rumors recently.
If he did not have the category of ‘designated player’, the left-back would have to assume a salary significantly lower than that of his ex-teammates at Barcelona.
Waiting to find out if Alba is encouraged to cross the Atlantic, Messi and Busquets will try to replicate the successes they achieved at Barcelona during their thirteen seasons together in the first team (2008-2021), which began just when Pep landed. Guardiola on the bench at the Camp Nou.
Thus, Messi and Busquets, among their numerous four-handed trophies, won 3 Champions Leagues, 8 Leagues and 7 Copas del Rey.
There are few more recognizable images of those magnificent years for Barcelona than that of Busquets as the mastermind in the engine room alongside Xavi Hernández and Andrés Iniesta.
Something similar can be said of the numerous goals Messi scored after Alba’s assist from the left wing.
The icing on the cake for this Blaugrana ‘simulation’ in Miami would be put by ‘Tata’ Martino, one of the three candidates to train the team as revealed this week by the president of Inter Miami, Jorge Mas.
The Argentine was the coach of Barcelona in the 2013-2014 academic year, although he did not have much luck since he only won the Spanish Super Cup for the Camp Nou showcases.
Messi and Busquets can be registered from July 5, the day the MLS summer transfer window begins.
These two reinforcements will come in handy for an Inter Miami that is in great need of help since, for now, it is last in the Eastern Conference with only 15 points in 17 games.
However, Mas pointed out that Messi’s debut is scheduled for July 21, at home and against Cruz Azul de México in the Leagues Cup, a new official tournament in which all MLS teams and all MLS teams will participate. the MX League.
