Xavi Chooses Barcelona’s Four Captains For Next Season Following Alba And Busquets Exit
With Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba officially set to leave Barcelona at the end of the season, two captaincy slots will be left vacant at the club.
Busquets, who is the first captain of the La Liga champions currently, announced his decision to leave earlier this month, with his contract expiring on June 30.
As for Alba, who is currently the third skipper, the news of his departure was confirmed today, with the two parties agreeing to terminate his contract which ran until 2024.
Having already bid goodbye to another captain and club legend in Gerard Pique earlier in the season, Barcelona are set to undergo a major revamp of their leadership group.
And, as per Javi Miguel of AS, manager Xavi Hernandez has already identified his four club captains for the 2023/24 campaign.
Unless anything changes in the coming weeks, Sergi Roberto, who had been the second captain, will replace Busquets as the first captain next season.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who has named fourth captain after Pique’s retirement earlier this season, will be bumped up to the position of the second skipper.
And the remaining two vacant slots in the captaincy group will be taken up by star defender Ronald Araujo and ace goalscorer Robert Lewandowski.
Araujo has been tipped as a Barcelona captain in the making for a while now. The 24-year-old Uruguayan international has all the characteristics needed to lead the team.
As for Lewandowski, he is an established superstar with great experience and even though he has been at the club for less than a year, the Poland captain has already made a big impact and is a crucial player for Xavi.
As such, the manager sees the duo as perfect picks to join Roberto and ter Stegen in the leadership group at Barça for next season.
In the future, there is a chance that young guns like Pedri and Gavi could grow into the roles, although that could be delayed if established stars like Ilkay Gundogan or Joshua Kimmich were to arrive at the club this summer.
Ousmane Dembele had also spoken about possibly becoming a captain after his renewal, although it is unclear whether he was serious about it.
As such, it is Lewandowski and Araujo who will be replacing the exit-bound Busquets and Alba in the captaincy group at Barcelona.
