Three years on, he returns through the back door
Barcelona confirmed on Monday that Sergio Busquets is back. Not as a player. He joins Barca Atletic as an assistant coach under Juliano Belletti with the Catalan reserves, effective immediately.
The club spelled out the job in its statement: “Sergio Busquets joins Barca Atletic as assistant coach from this Monday. The Barca legend joins Juliano Belletti’s staff to bring his experience and football knowledge while completing his coaching badges.”
Look at the calendar and the move makes more sense. Rodri is expected to sign for Barcelona within hours, reportedly for 65 million euros according to Foot Mercato. Busquets is not coming back to compete for the position he owned for 15 years. He is coming back to teach it.
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From Miami to a badge he still has to finish
He left Barcelona in 2023, then spent two and a half seasons at Inter Miami before retiring there. The next chapter starts a few hundred metres from Camp Nou, where the whole thing began.
His coaching qualifications are not finished yet. An assistant job with the reserves is the usual path for a former player ticking off the last requirements without stepping away from the grass.
The playing CV needs no defence. A La Masia graduate, three Champions League titles with Barca, a World Cup with Spain in 2010, and 15 years spent mastering the hardest position on the pitch to read. That knowledge travels better from a training ground than from an office.
What Belletti gets out of it
Juliano Belletti knows this club inside out. The former right-back scored the winner in the 2006 Champions League final against Arsenal. He now runs the Blaugrana reserves, and he has just been handed an assistant no young player will argue with.
The interesting part is what Busquets does next. Plenty of former greats slide into ambassador roles, suits and handshakes and a photo op every few months. He picked a reserve-team bench.
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