Busquets would be ‘honoured’ to reunite with Pep

Matt Stead

Sergio Busquets has fueled talk of a move to Manchester City by praising former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola.

Busquets was drafted into the first-team squad at the Nou Camp in 2008 by Guardiola during his first season at the helm.

The 27-year-old midfielder went on to become a mainstay of the Barca team and he won 14 trophies under the leadership of Guardiola before the Catalan coach went on a one-year sabbatical.

Guardiola then took up the job at Bayern Munich, but last week it was revealed Guardiola would succeed Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini at the end of the current season. And Busquets has revealed that Guardiola, a manager he respects greatly, could persuade him to follow him to the Premier League.

“I have always said there are just two people who could make me change my decision to stay at Barcelona,” he told ESPN. “One of those two people is my wife. And she is happy here right now, so I don’t think there will be any issues on a personal level.

“On a sporting level, that other person is Guardiola. It’s clear that I owe Pep a lot and I would be honoured to work with him again.”

Busquets, who has been capped by Spain 83 times, has a contract with the La Liga giants until 2019 and has no intention of leaving and he doesn’t think Guardiola will ask him to move either.

“He knows that Barcelona are my club and it’s his club as well. He knows it’s best for the club and for me to stay here and I don’t think he will ask me to leave Barcelona,” added Busquets.

“I hope that when I end my career, I go down in history as a great team player, who won titles and excelled. I want to become one of the players with the most games for Barcelona.”