That other player: A look at Sergio Busquets

It might be the worst-kept secret for Inter Miami, but rumor has it the team will announce the signing of former Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets along with Lionel Messi on Sunday.

In fact, Transfermarkt already lists Busquets as a player for the Herons.

While Messi has garnered all of the press coverage — for good reason — it’s important to note that Busquets is certainly no slouch.

Here are some facts and figures about the player set to join Messi for Inter Miami.

Barca Almost His Whole Career

Busquets officially started his career for UFB Jabac — a youth team in Barcelona.

There isn’t much about the team either during Busquets’ tenure or after.

In 2005, Busquets joined Barcelona’s U19 squad on a free transfer, where he played for two years before being called up to the club’s B team.

From there, he remained with Barcelona — getting the call to the top flight in 2008 — until his contract came to an end July 5, 2023.

Over the course of his career in Spain, Busquets made 724 appearances across all competitions, including league, Supercopa, Copa del Rey, UEFA Super Cup and Champions League.

As a defensive midfielder, Busquets doesn’t have a lofty goal total — only 18 in all competitions — to go along with 45 assists.

But he also added 143 appearances for the Spanish National Team and three goals — including one in U21 competitions.

Busquets Means Hardware … Lots of Hardware

Spending that much time with one of the most successful club and national teams has equaled a fair amount of hardware earned by Busquets.

For Spain, he was part of the 2010 World Cup champions and the squad that captured the 2012 European Championship.

But the real trophy tally comes from his time at Barcelona.

From 2008 to 2023, Busquets was part of nine La Liga championship teams, seven Spanish Cup champions and seven Spanish Super Cup winners.

On top of that, he also played on three FIFA Club World Cup winners (2010, 2012 and 2016) as well as three Champions League winners (2009, 2011 and 2015).

In all, that’s 35 total trophies won by teams Busquets suited up for since 2008.

Where Busquets Fits In With Inter

This isn’t necessarily an easy question to answer.

At 34, Busquets is the oldest midfielder for the Herons. And, at that age, it isn’t likely that Busquets would be a “full-time” starter.

Plus there is some quality at that position for Inter. Along with club captain Gregore, the Herons have Dixon Arroyo, Victor Ulloa and David Ruiz battling for minutes at the defensive midfield spot.

All said, the one thing that’s obvious Busquets brings to the table is experience.

In addition to having the experience of playing with Messi and working with current Inter Miami manager Tata Martino, Busquets brings a virtual ton of quality playing experience — both for one of the best clubs in the world and a strong national team — to the roster.

I wouldn’t expect groundbreaking minutes for Busquets, but he’s definitely going to bring mentorship to a team languishing at the bottom of the Eastern Division.