How important a player Sergio Busquets is at Barcelona! Over the years, the Spanish midfielder has played a key role for the Blaugrana in their success story over the past decade. However, the defensive midfielder being such an integral member of the side makes him a bit too indispensable. He has to play week in week out in all games which is is a very tough ask from any player. Now that he is 28, it will become even harder for him.
ESPN claims that Barcelona are looking for a high-profile cover for Busquets and have identified Steven N’Zonzi as the perfect candidate. The report claims that Barcelona are ready to meet the €30 million release clause of the Sevilla midfielder who is in the form of his life for Jorge Sampaoli’s side now. From Barcelona’s point of view, it will be a brilliant move but from the player’s angle, it might not make too much sense.
N’Zonzi’s rise to prominence has been an amazing story. From a mid-table Premier League club like Stoke City to Europa League winners Sevilla, the story has been an inspiring one and it is far from over. He will be nothing more than just a bench player at Camp Nou if he joins Luis Enrique. He deserves much better than that. Being only 27, N’Zonzi still has plenty of football left in him and yet to announce himself in international football.
He is not far away from a France call-up if he can keep up his good work and to do that, he should stay put at Sevilla. Remember Alex Song? He was a star at Arsenal before joining Barcelona and look at him now! Even a defensive midfielder of Javier Mascherano’s calibre had to switch to central defence to get playing time for the Blaugrana.
Jorge Sampaoli is a quality manager who is getting the best out of the former Stoke City star and to keep up his progress, N’Zonzi needs to have some stability in his career. We understand that the temptation of joining clubs like Barcelona or Real Madrid is something very few can turn down but N’Zonzi needs to show that character and avoid the lust of Barcelona.
If you are a professional footballer, you have to play. Your ambition should be playing on more of a regular basis than just winning trophies sitting on the bench. N’Zonzi has to turn Barcelona down or else he could be the next Alex Song.
