Sergio Busquets 'yet to respond to Barcelona contract offer'

Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets is reportedly yet to respond to the club's offer of a new contract amid fears that he could leave at the end of the season.

The long-serving Spaniard will soon enter the final three months of his existing Camp Nou deal, and his future has been a major talking point throughout the campaign.

Clubs in MLS and Saudi Arabia are keeping a close eye on developments, and it has been claimed that Busquets has decided to leave the club on a free transfer.

However, the 34-year-old is believed to be giving more consideration to his future during the ongoing international break, and Barcelona have presented him with an offer of a new one-year deal.

According to Mundo Deportivo, Busquets is yet to give a thumbs up or thumbs down to the renewal offer, despite spending 10 days evaluating the pros and cons of the deal.

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Barcelona have not set a deadline for the midfielder to respond, and the consensus is that the club must come up with an improved offer to keep the 34-year-old on the books until 2024.

Ending his career in North America would supposedly appeal to Busquets, who is on the radar of Inter Miami and Toronto, and he is said to have already spoken with the former club.

However, a sensational return to Camp Nou for Lionel Messi could tempt Busquets into signing an extension, with the Argentina international seemingly edging closer to an exit from Paris Saint-Germain this summer.

Busquets's renewal and Messi's possible comeback are complicated by Barcelona's well-documented financial troubles, though, and they must trim their wage bill by a staggering €200m (£175.6m) to stay in line with UEFA and La Liga regulations.

Currently the longest-serving first team player at Camp Nou, having made his senior debut in September 2008, Busquets has now represented Barcelona on 713 occasions across all tournaments.

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The former Spain international sits third in the Catalonians' appearances column - only behind Messi (778) and Xavi (767) - and he has scored 18 goals and set up 44 more over the past 15 years.

A world and European champion with Spain, Busquets has collected 31 major honours in a Barcelona jersey, including three Champions League crowns and eight La Liga titles.

Should Busquets ultimately end his association with Barcelona this summer, La Blaugrana have seemingly identified Manchester City's Ilkay Gundogan as an ideal replacement.

The 32-year-old is also out of contract in June, and Man City chiefs apparently believe that he has decided to call time on his Etihad career as talks with Barcelona rumble on in the background.

Wolverhampton Wanderers' Ruben Neves was also mentioned as a potential successor, but the Blaugrana are now said to have ended their interest in the Portugal international, who is instead discussing a move to Manchester United.