Xavi and Laporta in disagreement over Sergio Busquets’ replacement at Barcelona

Sergio Busquets is one of La Masia and Barcelona’s brightest-ever gems. Of all the players in the Catalan golden generation, the defensive midfielder was the amalgam that made them a single and unstoppable unit. Fittingly, the club are finding it the most difficult to replace him as rumours of his exit circulate.

That the veteran will leave at the end of his contract is an open secret at this point. Only five months of his contractual obligation to Barcelona remain, after which he could walk away as a free agent. Yet, the Blaugranas seem clueless about how to fill the impending void.

According to reports from MARCA, Joan Laporta is a big fan of Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Ruben Neves and sees him as the perfect replacement for Busquets. Moreover, the president has good relations with his agent, Jorge Mendes, and would be able to pull off the transaction with ease.

However, Xavi Hernandez is not convinced by the Portuguese International’s profile. The manager and sporting department see the midfielder as a traditional double pivot and not one to slot into the Catalan 4-3-3 system that revolves around a single pivot.

Instead, Xavi sees Martin Zubimendi as the ideal candidate for his plans. The Spanish player would only be available for his release clause of €60 million, a number that is unaffordable at the moment for Barcelona.

The other options at the coach’s table would be to trust Frenkie de Jong, who has shown promise in recent games, or persuade Sergio Busquets into a season-long renewal, with the latter option being advocated by Xavi if the club do not sign Zubimendi.

However, rumours suggest that Laporta is sealing Neves’ arrival despite Xavi’s doubts. The disagreement over the midfield targets between the president and the manager is getting conspicuously wide, and it remains to be seen who they end up signing in the end.