Sergio Busquets Joins Barça Athletic Coaching Staff

Sergio Busquets is back at Barcelona. Not in his old place at the base of midfield, but on the touchline, taking his first steps into coaching with the club’s reserve side.

The 38-year-old has joined Juliano Belletti’s staff at Barça Athletic, who now play in Spain’s fourth tier, the Segunda Federación. While he works through his coaching badges, he will help guide a team that once sat just below LaLiga but has slipped two divisions since 2018.

The job is clear and unforgiving: restore Barça Athletic to the third tier and, at the same time, shape the next wave for the Camp Nou. Promotion and player development, hand in hand. No hiding place.

Busquets knows this pathway better than almost anyone. He arrived at Barcelona as a teenager in 2005, quietly learning his trade with the reserves and making 25 appearances before Pep Guardiola pulled him into the senior side. From there, he became a pillar of an era-defining team.

By the time he left, Busquets had played 722 games for the club. Only Lionel Messi and Xavi Hernández have worn the shirt more. His medal haul reads like a history of modern Barça: nine LaLiga titles, three Champions League crowns and a long list of domestic and international trophies.

His influence stretched well beyond club football. With Spain, Busquets earned 143 caps and anchored the La Roja midfield that conquered the world and Europe, winning the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012.

When his time at Barça ended, he crossed the Atlantic in 2023 to join Inter Miami, reuniting with Messi, Jordi Alba and Luis Suárez in Florida. Even there, deep into the final chapter of his playing days, he kept stacking milestones. He made 116 appearances for Miami, helped deliver the Leagues Cup in 2023 and then the MLS Cup in 2025 before finally calling time on a remarkable career.

Now he returns to where his Barcelona story truly began: the reserves, the grind, the proving ground. Only this time, he is the one guiding others through it.