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Barcelona icon Sergio Busquets may be on the brink of a homecoming to the club where he achieved everything as a player, this time to take his first steps into management.
Busquets was seen at Barcelona's training facilities earlier this week, and multiple reports indicate there is mutual interest in him joining Juliano Belletti's Barça Atlètic (Barcelona's B team) coaching setup.
According to Sport, discussions are already in motion for Busquets to come aboard Belletti's staff as an assistant and immediately integrate into Barça Atlètic's daily operations. The iconic midfielder has yet to complete his coaching qualifications and lacks the required credentials to serve as a head coach, but is eager to gain experience by joining the staff of the team he represented for a year before breaking through to Barcelona's first team.
While only early-stage conversations have occurred and nothing is confirmed yet, Sport reports that the Catalan club would warmly embrace Busquets' return and view his addition to Belletti's staff as a win-win situation.
Busquets Stays True to Retirement Promise
It has been less than a year since Busquets officially called time on his playing career, lifting the MLS Cup with Inter Miami alongside fellow former Barça legends Luis Suárez, Jordi Alba, and Lionel Messi in his final match on Dec. 6, 2025.
Busquets had announced his retirement plans several months in advance, and Miami organized a special tribute evening for the all-time great last October. Following his farewell night, Busquets made no secret of his ambitions to enter management down the line.
"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 exactly that over the seven months since hanging up his boots, and was recently spotted at MetLife Stadium watching Spain claim the World Cup on Sunday. Now, with a new season on the horizon, it appears he is ready to embark on a new chapter in the dugout—one he has long believed he can thrive 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."
Should Busquets take his managerial first steps with Barça Atlètic, he would be treading a path already walked by two of the greatest coaches he played under during his career.
Busquets Could Become Next Pep Guardiola, Luis Enrique
Should Busquets come on board, he would be following in the footsteps of two of the greatest managers not just of the modern era, but in the history of the game: Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique.
Barça Atlètic has a reputation not only for developing Barcelona's next generation of talent, but also for nurturing future first-team managers.
Widely regarded as one of the finest midfielders in the club's history, Guardiola returned to Barcelona and took charge of Barça B a year after retiring in 2006. He led Barça B for a single season in 2007–08 before stepping up to manage the first team the following year—Barcelona went on to win a sextuple in his debut senior managerial campaign. Notably, Busquets played under Guardiola at Barça B before making his breakthrough with the senior squad once Guardiola was promoted.
When Guardiola moved up to manage Barcelona's first team, it was Enrique who stepped in to replace him at Barça B in his first managerial role. Enrique spent three years in charge of Barça B and holds deeply fond memories of his time with the reserve side.
"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."
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After launching their managerial careers at Barça B, both Guardiola and Enrique went on to win trebles with the senior side and presided over the club's last three Champions League triumphs. Today, they rank among just five managers in history to have won the Champions League three or more times.
Busquets is widely considered one of the most tactically astute players of his generation, and it is easy to picture him excelling on the touchline. Should he join Barça Atlètic's coaching staff, he could be laying the groundwork to one day follow in the footsteps of Guardiola and Enrique and take the reins as Barcelona's head coach.