Sergio Busquets on deciding to join Inter Miami with Messi, leaving Barcelona and more
Sergio Busquets isn’t bothered by the south Florida heat. With a wide grin and fresh tan after three days of training under the Fort Lauderdale sun, Busquets laughs when asked about the heat that he’ll experience as an Inter Miami player.
It isn’t a problem, he says. Barcelona has spent several preseason tours in Miami, including last summer. The heat is expected.
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The south Florida humidity though, that’s an entirely different obstacle.
“The humidity is different from practically any other place on Earth, especially in Barcelona where I was,” Busquets says. “But we’re adapting to everything with confidence. That makes the process better.”
“We” includes his former Barcelona teammate, seven-time Ballon d’Or winner and recently crowned World Cup winner Lionel Messi, who Inter Miami unveiled alongside Busquets on July 16. With so much attention on Messi, and deservedly so, Busquets has flown slightly under the radar.
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Only Messi can overshadow a player like Busquets, winner of 32 trophies with Barcelona and an integral part of the best-ever Spain national team that won the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 European Championship. The Catalan-born 35-year-old is widely regarded as the best holding midfielder the game has produced. He announced his international retirement in December, following the World Cup in Qatar.
Busquets is seated inside a backstage dressing room at the Broward County Performing Arts Center in Fort Lauderdale. In a few minutes he’ll address reporters along with Inter Miami manager Gerardo “Tata” Martino, who coached Busquets at Barcelona nearly a decade ago. Before this availability, Busquets
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