Barcelona Legend Tipped to Return, Follow in Pep Guardiola’s Footsteps

A familiar face was spotted at Barcelona’s training ground this week.

Sergio Busquets (middle) was an integral part of Barcelona’s golden era. | Shaun Botterill/FIFA/Getty Images

Legendary Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets could be on the verge of returning to the club where he won it all during his playing career, this time to take the first steps of his managerial career.

Busquets was spotted at Barcelona’s training ground earlier in the week and various reports suggest there’s mutual interest in him joining Juliano Belletti’s Barça Atlètic’s (Barcelona’s B team) coaching staff.

According to Sport, talks are already underway for Busquets to join Belletti’s staff as an assistant and immediately become part of Barça Atlètic’s day-to-day work. The legendary midfielder still hasn’t completed his managerial training and doesn’t own the necessary credentials to exercise the job as the team’s manager, but wants to continue his getting his feet wet by joining the staff of the team he played for a year before breaking into Barcelona’s first team.

Although only preliminary talks have taken place and there’s still nothing concrete, Sport indicates the Catalans would more than welcome Busquets returning to the club and consider him joining Belletti’s staff as mutually beneficial.

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Busquets Stays True to Retirement Promise

Sergio Busquets (middle) played the final two seasons of his career for Inter Miami. | Megan Briggs/Getty Images

It’s been less than a year since Busquets hung up his boots for good, winning the MLS Cup for Inter Miami alongside fellow former Barça greats Luis Suárez, Jordi Alba and Lionel Messi in his final appearance on Dec. 6, 2025.

Busquets announced his plans to call it a career months prior and Miami held a special tribute for the all-time great last October. Following his farewell night, Busquets didn’t hide his desire to become a manager in the future.

“I think in the future, yes [I'd want to be a coach],” Busquets said. “But for now I'd rather take a sabbatical.” The former midfield maestro has done just that in the seven months since his retirement, and was spotted at MetLife Stadium witnessing Spain win its World Cup on Sunday. Now, with a new season starting, it seems he’s ready to start a new chapter on the touchline—one he’s long believed he can enjoy success in.

“Playing a position that requires you to know how to move the whole team has influenced me in becoming interested with being a manager,” Busquets said in 2023, via AS. “To prepare things, having everything under control. I’m going to get my coaching license when I stop playing and from there I think I’ll give it a shot. I think I have the conditions and I’m qualified.”

If Busquets does indeed take his first steps as a manager with Barça Atlètic, he’d be following the footsteps of two of the greatest managers he played for during his career.

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Busquets Could Become Next Pep Guardiola, Luis Enrique

Pep Guardiola (left) and Luis Enrique started their managerial careers at Barça Atlètic. | Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu/Getty Images

If Busquets joins, he’d be following in the footsteps of two of the greatest managers not only of the modern era, but of all time: Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique.

Barça Atlètic is known not only for producing the next great Barcelona talents, but also future first-team managers.

Also considered one of the best midfielders in club history, Guardiola returned to Barcelona and took over as Barça B’s manager a year after his retirement in 2006. He managed Barça B for one season in 2007–08 before taking over as first team manager a season later—Barcelona won a sextuple during his first senior managerial season. In fact, Busquets played for Guardiola’s at Barça B and burst onto the scene with the senior team once Guardiola took over.

When Guardiola took over a Barcelona manager, it was Enrique who replaced him at Barça B in his first career managerial role. Enrique spent three years managing Barça B and has incredibly fond memories of his time with the youth team.

“The best team I’ve managed, or at least the one where I enjoyed the most, was Barcelona B,” Enrique said in 2025. “Three years I spent at Barcelona B, my first three as a manager. That was for me the team where I felt the best, where I learned the most and where I could develop what I wanted to become as a manager without having any experience. You didn’t get to see it, but that team played really good soccer.”

After starting their managerial careers with Barça B, Guardiola and Enrique then both won trebles with the senior side and oversaw the last three Champions League titles the Catalans won. Now, they are two of the five managers to have ever won the Champions League three or more times.

Busquets is widely regarded as one of the most intelligent players of all time and it’s not hard to envision him thriving on the touchline. If he does indeed join Barça Atlètic’s coaching staff, then he could be laying the foundation to one day follow in Guardiola and Enrique’s footsteps, taking over as Barcelona’s manager in the future.

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