MIAMI: Inter Miami announced on Friday they are signing former Spain and Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets to team-up with Lionel Messi at the Major League Soccer club.

Messi said earlier this month he was moving to Miami and he will now be re-united with his former Barca team-mate Busquets.

Inter Miami posted a tweeted heralding the arrival of the player.

“Si, Busi” read the twitter post, referring to Busquets’ nickname. The tweet included quotes praising Busquets from several people in the game including former Spain coach Vicente del Bosque.

Busquets said in May that he would leave Barcelona in the summer at the end of his contract.

The 34-year-old made 143 appearances for Spain before announcing his retirement from the team in December.

Busquets has been a central part of Barcelona’s successes in the past 15 years, including nine Spanish league titles and three Champions League triumphs.

Inter Miami owner Jorge Mas said this week that the club expected to make between three to five new signings to join Messi.

“We’ve been preparing our roster for Messi’s arrival in ‘23, so we left an enormous amount of flexibility,” Mas told the Herald.

“We will be making additional signings during the summer window, more than what people anticipate... I can say we will potentially be making between three and five signings.”

Busquets is likely to occupy one of the three ‘Designated Player’ spots, an MLS designation for high-earning players, whose wages do not count against the salary cap.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2023