In Focus: Busquets hoping to lead Miami's Serg in MLS

Sergio Busquets is joining his former Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi at Major League Soccer side Inter Miami next month.

Like the Argentina icon, the defensive midfielder reportedly rejected lucrative offers to move to Saudi Arabia in favour of the club co-owned by David Beckham.

As excitement levels for MLS reach new heights, we take a look at what kind of impact the World Cup winner is likely to have in the Sunshine State.

Not so sunny

Despite the anticipation surrounding his arrival, Busquets joins a Miami side who are in disarray.

The franchise are rooted to the bottom of the Eastern Conference on 15 points, having mustered only five wins from their 18 matches and losing the other 13.

Miami's struggles saw head coach Phil Neville lose his job and their chances of securing a place in the wildcard round play-off — which goes to the teams in eighth and ninth — are slim.

However, Busquets will at least be buoyed by the fact that his former manager at Barca, Gerardo Martino, has been appointed as the team's new manager.

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Age is just a number

On top of the positive managerial appointment, Busquets arrives in North America on the back of another successful season at Barca.

The 34-year-old captained the Blaugrana to their 27th LaLiga title and was one of Europe's standout performers under the tutelage of his former midfielder partner Xavi.

He ranked seventh in the Spanish top flight last term for passes completed (1,715), 12th for final third passes made (454) and fourth for through-balls executed (eight).

Since the start of the 2020-21 campaign, no player in the division has completed more passes, while only four have made more than his 214 tackles.

Busquets might be approaching the twilight years of his career, but he is still a quality operator who can lay the platform for Messi to wreak havoc in Miami.

Andrea warning

Busquets will be a cut above the rest in the US from a technical standpoint but the physical nature of the league could prove to be an issue.

Fellow midfield legend Andrea Pirlo crossed the Atlantic at the age of 36 to join New York City FC — and admitted he was caught off guard by the tempo of matches.

The Italian said in May 2016: "It's a very hard league to play in.

"It's very physical, there's a lot of running. So there is a lot of physical work and to me, in my mind, too little play."

Given the similarities in Busquets and Pirlo's styles, success in Florida may not be a stroll in the park for the Catalan lynchpin.

Past successes

But while Pirlo found the going in MLS slightly tough, other ageing midfielders have enjoyed their stints after transferring from Europe.

Frank Lampard scored 12 goals in 21 games for New York City FC in the 2016 season — and Steven Gerrard tallied nine assists in 22 matches for LA Galaxy in the same campaign.

With familiar faces in Messi and Martino by his side, Busquets will fancy his chances of emulating the English pair in a Miami jersey.

And if he can, it may pave the way for an era of success at a franchise who only entered MLS three years ago.