Barcelona Transfers: Top 5 replacements for Sergio Busquets

#3 Mikel Merino (Club: Real Sociedad | Age: 24)

The 24-year-old midfielder has been a massive player for Real Sociedad for quite a while now. He’s an ideal midfielder for a team that requires a constant work rate. Barcelona could do with some work rate as of now. Especially in the UEFA Champions League where they have failed to deliver in the recent past.

Merino has got experience in La Liga, unlike Manuel Locatelli and Eduardo Camavinga, thus he understands the Spanish game and his experience in the league will be a massive factor if he were to be picked up by Barcelona. He’d be an ideal replacement due to the defensive work mainly. While he is good at passing and progressing the ball, he is also very efficient, extremely concentrated, and focused throughout the game. His positioning on the pitch is brilliant, it’s his judgment before a move from the opponent takes place which guides him to be in the correct position beforehand in order to make a tackle or disrupt an opposition counter-attack.

He’s brilliant at making the opposition uncomfortable with his pressing. Merino finished very well this season with Sociedad and the team had one of the best seasons in a very long time this season.

Merino would be yet another ideal replacement for the 32-year-old, especially given the fact that he already has a lot of experience in La Liga. He’s currently 24 so he’s got more experience than the aforementioned youngsters who haven’t exactly been around for very long. Also, Merino will not be an expensive buy either like the youngsters as he is not being hunted down by top European sides.