Sergio Busquets: FC Barcelona career in numbers

The Spaniard will leave Blaugrana at the end of the season

After 18 years with FC Barcelona, Sergio Busquets revealed on Wednesday that he was departing the club at the end of the season.

He is now anticipated to move to Saudi Arabia and join Al Hilal, sparking rumours that Lionel Messi may do the same this summer.

Busquets' current contract expires at the end of the current campaign. Barcelona had offered him a new one, but accepting it would have required him to accept a pay cut of 70%.

He put it off because Barcelona has been trying to persuade LaLiga that they have the funds to re-sign Messi in recent weeks.

There is an unspoken agreement between Messi and Busquets that they will play another year together before calling it quits.

The club has made Busquets a tax-free offer of about €15 million (£13 million) each season. Jordi Alba's contract with Barcelona expires in 2024, and Al Hilal are also interested in signing him.

Alba had hoped to complete his contract in order to receive the €17 million (£15 million) he is entitled to in his last season, but the Saudi Arabian team would more than makeup for that.

Among the best defensive midfielder in Europe

At the club, his choice means the end of an era. He was the lone survivor of Barcelona's legendary midfield, which Pep Guardiola put together in the 2008–09 campaign.

Busquets was only 19 years old when he received a call-up to train with the first squad during Guardiola's first preseason, and he hasn't looked back since. After Barcelona defeated Manchester United in Rome, he received a Champions League medal within a year.

When Guardiola shocked many by permitting the club to sell Yaya Toure to Manchester City in the course of the second season, he truly took off.

Vicente del Bosque, Busquets' first manager in Spain, once remarked that if he could be resurrected as any player, it would be Busquets. Busquets responded with Guardiola when the same subject was posed to him.

All eyes are going to be on him once he finishes constructing his money in Saudi Arabia to see if he pursues Guardiola and Xavi into coaching. He has reportedly commented in the past, "It's not easy, but I want to try."

An overview of Sergio Busquets' career at Barcelona

Matches played: 719

Assists: 45

Goals: 18

Trophies won

La Liga: 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2018–19

Copa del Rey: 2008–09, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2020–21

Supercopa de España: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2022–23

UEFA Champions League: 2008–09, 2010–11, 2014–15

UEFA Super Cup: 2009, 2011, 2015

FIFA Club World Cup: 2009, 2011, 2015