Barcelona are reportedly considering three players who could succeed Busquets. The current contract of the 33-year-old defensive midfielder expires at the end of next season and the Catalans are eager to bring in a fresh pair of legs capable of being an understudy and potentially replacing the Spaniard when his time is up.
Busquets is often regarded as one of the most underrated stars of his generation and has been a loyal servant to Barca since making his senior debut in 2008. The Spanish midfielder has consistently been a key figure in the success story of the club till date but could be shown the exit door in about 12 months. With the player's contract expiring in the summer of 2023, there have not been any talks of an extension being offered, leaving the future of Los Blaugrana's skipper in doubt.
A move to the MLS has also been discussed in the media in recent months but the nothing has been decided yet by Busquets. Ahead of Barcelona's La Liga clash with Celta Vigo on Tuesday night, Xavi discussed the future of his side's skipper, citing that the club need to be thinking about how to replace the Spanish international. "Busquets is not eternal," said Xavi.
"We have to take that into account for the future. There's no profile like Sergio Busquets in the team. We have to find one. It's important that the planning goes there. Barcelona should have two players for each position. We don't have each position doubled up and that's important."
According to Diario Sport, there are three names that Barcelona are looking at in terms of finding the ideal candidate to replace Busquets. They are Martin Zubimendi (Real Sociedad), Aurelien Tchouameni (Monaco) and Ruben Neves (Wolves). Zubimendi is thought to be the favorite because Xavi is fond of the player and believes he is closest to Busquets in terms of expectations.
