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Sergio Busquets 'among players not wanted by Ronald Koeman at Barcelona'

Barcelona stalwart Sergio Busquets is reportedly among a host of high-profile players who could see his future at the club come under threat if Ronald Koeman takes over.

Barcelona stalwart Sergio Busquets is reportedly one of a number of key players who could see his future come under threat due to the impending arrival of Ronald Koeman as manager.

Busquets has been a mainstay of the Barcelona side for more than a decade, with only Carles Puyol, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi and Xavi having made more appearances for the club than his tally of 579.

However, the most recent of those came in the 8-2 obliteration by Bayern Munich last week - a result which is expected to spark a major overhaul of the club from top to bottom.

Quique Setien has already been sacked as manager with Koeman expected to replace him, and El Periodico de Catalunya claims that the incoming boss will consider offloading Busquets.

Koeman is reportedly hopeful that selling a number of the ageing established stars will help to inject new life into the club, and particularly into last summer's signings Frenkie de Jong and Antoine Griezmann.

Thirty-two-year-old Busquets is not the only big-name player whose position could be under threat, with Jordi Alba, Luis Suarez, Arturo Vidal, Ivan Rakitic and Samuel Umtiti - the latter of whom is the only one under the age of 30 - also in contention to be sold.

Those six players have played more than 1,700 games for Barcelona between them but could now be deemed surplus to requirements with Koeman also likely to be charged with trimming the wage bill.

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Written by
Barney Corkhill
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2Real Madrid18124241182340
3Barcelona19122551222938
4Athletic Bilbao19106329171236
5Villarreal188643430430
6Mallorca199371921-230
7Real Sociedad187471613325
8GironaGirona187472625125
9Real BetisBetis186752122-125
10Osasuna186752327-425
11Celta Vigo187382728-124
12Rayo Vallecano185762021-122
13Las PalmasLas Palmas186482327-422
14Sevilla186482027-722
15Leganes184681728-1118
16AlavesAlaves184592130-917
17Getafe183781115-416
18Espanyol1843111630-1415
19Valencia172691626-1012
20Real ValladolidValladolid1833121237-2512


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