Xavi has decided to bet on ‘untouchable’ Barcelona star to replace Busquets

With there being question marks over the future of Barcelona captain Sergio Busquets, there have been a lot of speculations flying around about a possible replacement for the 34-year-old.

Reports earlier this week even went as far as suggesting that the Catalans had practically sealed the signing of Ruben Neves, even though manager Xavi Hernandez has major doubts about his suitability for the role.

Now, according to David Bernabeu Reverter on SPORT, Xavi has decided to bet on an in-house solution to take over from Busquets, in the form of Frenkie de Jong.

The 25-year-old was one of the footballers who the club tried to force out in the summer window, but the midfielder held firm on his stance of not wanting to leave.

While he was initially axed from the starting XI, de Jong has grown in importance after the first month of the season or so and has grown in stature considerably.

Given Barcelona’s inability to sign a top replacement for Busquets in case he does not renew, Xavi has now seemingly decided to bet on de Jong to slot in as the pivot midfielder moving forward from next season.

Xavi has insisted in the past that he sees the Dutchman as an interior, but has fielded him in the pivot role on a few occasions this season and the ex-Ajax ace has delivered more often than not.

Given the situation and his growing importance, de Jong is now seen as an ‘untouchable’ at Barcelona. And, he could form the club’s first-choice midfield trident alongside Pedri and Gavi for a long time to come.

Meanwhile, Barça might look to sign an interior midfielder in case de Jong is successfully transitioned into the holding role.

What seems to be clear is that despite de Jong attracting interest from several clubs, Barcelona see him as non-transferable now and the player is also said to be aware of his new status.