Busquets wants Manchester City star as his successor at Barcelona

Barcelona captain Sergio Busquets has revealed that Manchester City's Rodri is his preferred candidate to replace him as the Barcelona pivot.  

The retired Spanish international is set to leave Barcelona at the end of the season, ending a 15-year top-flight career at the club. When asked, he explained that the former Atletico Madrid man is his desired replacement.

In an interview today bordering on his impending exit from Barcelona, the World Cup winner said his former international teammate and Manchester City pivot, Rodri, is the ideal option to take his place.  

However, Busquets understands the difficulty of the Blaugrana completing a move for the midfielder given their finances and the defensive midfielder's importance for Pep Guardiola's side.  

Barcelona have been linked with Real Sociedad's Martin Zubimendi for the position; he is the preferred candidate by the club's coach, Xavi Hernandez, and Busquets believes he is a better fit than Joshua Kimmich, who has also been linked to the club. 

Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain forward Lionel Messi has sent more signals about a possible exit from France after failing to attend the UNFP end-of-season awards ceremony, where he was honoured with a place in the team of the season.

Messi was spotted at Coldplay’s concert in Barcelona as part of the band’s partnership with Blaugrana’s new sponsor Spotify, fuelling speculation that the Argentine forward could be heading back to his old club.