'You have to control everything - it's like playing chess'

Sergio Busquets reflects on his future following the end of his trophy-laden career at Barcelona and the midfielder reveals his unique thought process on the pitch

- Sid Lowe

There was something of the heist movie about it, the story taking shape one man at a time, like the opening scenes from a film. First Andrés Iniesta announced he was leaving Japan. Then Sergio Busquets bade farewell to Barcelona. The next day, so did Jordi Alba. That afternoon the Paris Saint-Germain head coach, Christophe Galtier, confirmed Lionel Messi was going. All in quick succession. It was easy to imagine a plot being hatched, to hear the deep voice of the Hollywood trailer: they had been the best; now the old gang was getting back together for one last job.

These are not just former teammates, who produced arguably the finest football seen; they're best mates too, people Busquets says share "the same culture, the same jokes, the same upbringing". At Busquets's goodbye at the Camp Nou on Thursday, Messi signed off his video message with an "I love you", while Busquets describes the Argentinian not only as the "best player of all time" but the pair of them as "personalities that fit, who trust each other". Iniesta refers to Busquets as a "brother". And Busquets, asked which player he could most confide in over the years, who's the funniest and who the grumpiest, cracks up when the answer to all three is Alba.

Sorted, then. All it needs is a name, this crime caper. Busquets laughs. "Nah," he protests, smile stretching across his face. "I still don't have plans. I do have three or four options but nothing is done. I don't want to play for any European team: it would be hard to face Barcelona with anything serious in play, and I want to live a calmer, more relaxed experience. I would like things to get sorted quickly over the next two or three weeks. The decision will be mine and my family's, just ours. All of us have decisions to make and maybe we will coincide, but there's no plan."