Busquets asks for a pay rise or a move away - report

Sergio Busquets doesn’t offer feature in the gossip columns but Sport have come up with a pretty curious report that the midfielder has asked for a new deal or a move away.

The 29-year-old is already one of the club’s best-paid players and his current deal runs until summer 2021.

Apparently though Busquets has spoken directly to president Josep Maria Bartomeu to ask for more cash and “even told him he could give him a list of clubs ready to sign him if he wasn’t able to land a renewal.”

It seems as if Busquets has heard about some of his team-mates successfully trying this negotiation tactic and thought he’d have a go himself.

The thing is that Barcelona don’t have too much spare cash when it comes to salaries (as Samuel Umtiti could probably have told him) so he’s unlikely to get what he wants.

It’s a pretty weird rumor and it’s also really difficult to see Busquets leaving. Barcelona would not want to sanction a sale meaning any interested clubs would have to pay his €200 million release clause.