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Sergio Busquets is a happy man right now. Not only did he establish himself as FC Barcelona's defensive midfield anchor, he became -- in a span of a week -- not only Barça's new Number Five, per request of Carles Puyol himself, but also Barça's new co-captain, along with Lionel Messi.
At the press conference in Helsinki, Finland, before the friendly match against HJK, Busquets talked about Puyol, the captaincy, Luis Suárez, and more.
"What does the captaincy mean? I'm really proud and honored to have earned my teammates' confidence and to become an example, like Valdés and Puyol used to be.
What do I need to do as a captain? I have to be myself and don't change. That way I can show why the teammates trusted me when they voted for me.
Replacing Puyol as Number Five and captain? We know what Puyol means. We talked briefly and he said that he wanted me to use his jersey and that made me proud. Being a captain is not only having the bracelet, you need to be the best teammate possible and work hard showing responsability, just like Puyol has done all these years. He could have said a lot, but he just told me to be myself, that's why the players trust me.
Vermaelen? If he's signed we'll receive him well like we did with everybody else.
The stars still not playing? That doesn't matter much. The important thing is them getting ready physically. I remember a SuperCup in which they played on two-days notice and performed well. The important is the physical level. Luis Suárez's situation is different because he doesn't know the system, and I hope he can figure it out quickly, but the most important thing is their physical level and that's what they're working on.
Luis Suárez ban? We hope they reduce it as much as possible so he can be ready now, we're excited to have him on the team and we can't wait to work and play with him."
