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Announced retirement
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Sergio Busquets has announced that he will retire at the end of the MLS season in December after an extraordinary career. The 38-year-old is one of the most decorated players in recent history and he’s widely regarded as the best defensive midfielder of his generation. Busquets made 722 appearances for Barcelona - the third most in the club’s history - across 18 years, winning nine LaLiga titles and three Champions Leagues.
The Spaniard totalled 143 appearances for his country and won the World Cup in 2010 and European Championship in 2012. Busquets will bring down the curtain on his career alongside close friends Lionel Messi, Jordi Alba and Luis Suárez at Inter Miami. And we’ve looked at which players Busquets played alongside most during his illustrious career.
Serio Busquets most frequent teammates
Unspursingly, Busquets played alongside Messi more in his career than any other player. He has shared the pitch with the Argentinian legend 639 times across his career, which is 34 more times than the second-placed player, Gerard Piqué. Naturally, every player in the combined XI below played alongside Busquets at Barcelona given his near two-decade service with the Catalan club. Sergio Ramos (102 games) is the player that Busquets played most with that never represented Barcelona.
Speaking on his impending retirement, Busquets said: “I feel like the time has come to say goodbye to my career as a professional footballer. It's been almost 20 years of enjoying this incredible story I always dreamed of," Busquets said in a video posted on social media. I'm retiring very happy, proud, fulfilled, and above all, grateful. Thank you all very much, see you soon."
