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.Every team in the world of football, traditionally, have some players around whom the entire structure of the team is built. You can call them the pillars of the team or, more formally, fundamental players of the team. Think of Neymar and Mbappe for PSG, Antoine Griezmann for Atletico Madrid, and Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets for Barcelona.
Talking about Barcelona, the Catalans are currently in their golden period, with the likes of Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique and others. This all started when in 2008 former Barcelona President, Joan Laporta, decided to put his stakes on Pep Guardiola over Jose Mourinho as the next Barca coach.
Guardiola had brought with him a new brand of football, a combination of Johan Cruyff's philosophy with his own variation, and this bet of Laporta had proved to be successful. In fact, it has been so successful that today, this Barcelona of Guardiola is not only considered as one of the greatest Barcelona sides but also as one of the greatest teams the world has ever seen.
Pep's Barca is built around Lionel Messi as the lynchpin, but one player was never enough. The team's philosophy is based on moving the ball and looking for space, and one player cannot do that alone. But luckily, in the same era of Lionel Messi, Barcelona also had one of the best midfield trios to ever grace the game.
The duo of Xavi and Iniesta along with Sergio Busquets was the identity of the beautiful brand of football that Pep's Barca is known for.
But that Barcelona was not for all eternity. Age caught up with Xavi and the midfield maestro left Camp Nou in 2015. Not long ago, Iniesta also left to spend his final years in Japan. The other two, Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets, who are currently captain and second in command respectively, are already on the wrong side of 30.
The void left by Xavi is currently covered by Ivan Rakitic, and he is doing an admirable job but he is not from the same mould and on top of that, he is already 30 years old. And on the other side, Ernesto Valverde is currently fluctuating between Arthur and Vidal to fill the space left by Iniesta.
So a natural question that arises is how are Barcelona going to respond to the post-Messi era? Who will cover the space left by these four heavyweights?
To answer these questions, here is a list of potential long term replacements of Xavi, Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Lionel Messi.
1) Xavi Hernandez -> Arthur Melo
If there is one player for which Barcelona has done a commendable job in finding his successor, it's Xavi.
The former Gremio midfielder, Arthur Melo, came to Barcelona in the summer transfer window of 2018 and has surprised the teammates and supporters alike. His playing style is so astonishingly similar to the former maestro that many players, including Messi, had admitted that he does play like Xavi.
Arthur came up through the ranks of Brazilian club Gremio before moving to Barcelona last season. Although his playing style is strikingly similar to Xavi, the Brazilian prefers Andres Iniesta as his benchmark and even inherit the Barcelona and Spain's legend no. 8 jersey after the latter had moved to Vissel Kobe in J1-league last summer.
Although his career is just started, the signs are positive and if everything remains fine, there is nothing stopping him from becoming a vital cog of Barcelona midfield in the future.
2) Andres Iniesta -> Riqui Puig
The 19 year old homegrown midfielder currently plays for Barcelona B under Garcia Pimienta.
Riqui Puig was playing for Jabac Terrassa when Barcelona acquired his services in 2013 and since then he was with the club. His father was also a footballer in his time and represented Terrassa FC.
Ricard Puig, more commonly known as Riqui Puig, played his first match for the reserve side in 2018 and since then caught the eyes of many big clubs across Europe. His list of believers includes the likes of Gennaro Gattuso and Mauricio Pochettino, with the latter even travelling to Barcelona to attend a B-side match against Cornella.
Although the reasons are not clear, it is not a long stretch to suspect that observing the young midfielder was one of his objectives.
Riqui Puig was included in the squad that traveled to the United States to participate in the International Champions Cup last year. In the three matches, Barcelona played against Tottenham, Roma and Milan, and Riqui Puig managed to feature in all three of them.
According to reports, Puig could have left the club a long time ago if not for the intervention of Ernesto Valverde. In 2017, the Catalans board decided to let go of Puig due to his 'under development in the physical department', but Valverde, who was the newly appointed coach at that time, vetoed this decision.
Riqui Puig came from the bench in the 55th minute of the second leg of Copa del Rey match against Cultural Leonesa and marked it with a fine performance and provided an assist to Denis Suarez in the 70th minute.
Although Puig hasn't debuted in La Liga, Ernesto Valverde has already started to integrate him into the first team by calling him up for cup matches and is regularly spotted in the training field with the senior side.
3) Sergio Busquets -> Oriol Busquets/ Frenkie de Jong/ Adrien Rabiot
Barcelona still does not have a clear choice for the heir of the throne of Sergio Busquets. The octopus of Badia broke into the first team under Guardiola and since has been the fundamental part of the midfield, first with Xavi and Iniesta, and later with Iniesta and Rakitic.
There are many players whose names came up in recent times. The most prominent of them is his namesake, Oriol Busquets. The La Masia product is been constantly seen in training with the first team and was also called up for Copa del Rey.
Apart from his name, his playing style is also strikingly similar to the veteran. For now, the younger Busquets is regularly involved in the Barcelona B matches alongside Riqui Puig.
Other names include Frenchman, Adrien Rabiot, with whom Barcelona has been constantly linked since last summer. The Frenchman has withdrawn from signing a contract renewal with the Paris giants.
This does not go well with the PSG board who reportedly decided to shut out Rabiot from playing any match until the contract is renewed. Rabiot's mother, who is also his agent, recently said that the relation between player and the club is already damaged beyond repair and the Frenchman is eager to leave the club.
The young Ajax sensation, Frenkie de Jong, is also on the list of possible inclusions to the squad this summer. Barcelona was previously going for both De Ligt and De Jong, but recent reports suggest that Barcelona pulled out from the race of signing the centre-back and decided to concentrate only on the midfielder.
The Ajax graduate is known for his technique and versatility, being able to play anywhere in the midfield and in the defence.
4) Lionel Messi -> Ousmane Dembele/ Carles Alena
The greatest player in club history is also the toughest to forget about. After his debut in 2004, La Pulga has established himself as one of the greatest players to ever grace the game. Although he has a few seasons left in his contracts, Barcelona has to be prepared for life once he hangs up his boots.
Two names come above others when thinking about the next no. 10.
The first one is Ousmane Dembele. The Frenchman was brought in summer of 2017 to replace Neymar. During the first season, Dembele was plagued with injuries which halted his progress, and in the later part of the season, he showed the glimpse of his generational talent but was still not able to justify his market value.
But since the start of 2018-19 season, the fans are witnessing a completely different Dembele. Scoring goals and taking on defenders has almost become a routine. In the meantime, he succeeded in impressing Valverde and earned his place in the starting lineup.
The second one is Carles Alena. Barcelona's famed youth academy's product is the youngest addition to the first side, handling the jersey no. 21. The first and most noticeable thing about him is how similar he is to Messi in terms of playing style and intelligence.
He further strengthens his candidacy after his impressive performance against Levante in the first leg of the round of 16 of Copa del Rey. Although it is difficult for him to start regularly for the first team right now due to the fact that the squad is currently packed in the midfield; but in future, there is a good chance that he will be a major presence in the lineup.
