FILE PHOTO: Sep 24, 2025; New York, NY, New York, NY, USA; Inter Miami midfielder Sergio Busquets (5) controls the ball during the second half against New York City at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark Smith-Imagn Images/File Photo
(Reuters) -Former Spain and Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets will retire from football at the end of the Major League Soccer (MLS) season, his club Inter Miami said on Thursday.
Busquets came up through the Barcelona youth ranks and spent 18 years overall at the club, making his senior debut in 2008, before joining Miami in 2023 where he was reunited with former teammates Lionel Messi, Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez.
He played 143 times for the national team and was part of the side that won the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the European Championship two years later in Poland and Ukraine.
"I feel like the time has come to say goodbye to my career as a professional footballer. It's been almost 20 years of enjoying this incredible story I always dreamed of," Busquets said in a video posted on Instagram.
"I'm retiring very happy, proud, fulfilled, and above all, grateful... Thank you all very much, see you soon."
Widely considered to be one of the best defensive midfielders ever to have played the game, Busquets made more than 700 appearances for Barcelona, winning nine LaLiga crowns and three Champions League trophies among his collection of major trophies with the club.
After moving to the U.S., the 37-year-old won the Leagues Cup and Supporters' Shield and will play the final few matches of his career in the MLS playoffs.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
