Does Barca even have natural intelligence?! Artificial intelligence thinks of Busquets' replacements

It's an end of an era at FC Barcelona as their long-serving midfield maestro and captain Sergio Busquets packs his bags to finally taste what football is like away from the Catalan giants. New challenges await the veteran star - and a world of the unknown awaits Barcelona. Now what? And who now?

Fifteen years and 31 trophies later, Busquets calls it quits at Barca

Everyone has an opinion about who would be the best candidate to fill the Busquets-shaped hole that would soon appear in the middle of the park for the Catalan club. Everyone is talking about who would be the best man to assume the skipper's role and lead Barca into the next season and another, presumably successful, chapter. Having opinions is the most human thing, after all. But even non-humans have their ideas!

A company called Olocip, which puts AI (artificial intelligence) to use in football matters, devised a list of players suitable for "being the new Busquets". The Madrid-based company says their team applies "the latest Artificial Intelligence techniques to predict the future performance of players, offer an objective assessment of each action performed on the pitch and contextualise players to a specific future club, competition or coach". Interesting. Using their database, AI looked at players aged 25 and younger who have played at least 1,000 minutes of competitive football this season and who would fit in nicely with coach Xavi Hernandez's system. So, who did they come up with? Let's take a look.

Martin Zubimendi - Real Sociedad

According to data, the 24-year-old midfield anchorman is the most similar to Busquets. The AI estimates the Real Sociedad man to be 86% identical to the departing captain. According to Transfermarkt, Zubimendi's current market value is around $44 million. The club from San Sebastian wouldn't sell him unless someone made a truly breathtaking offer for the guy. The question is: will Barca be allowed to spend big bucks this year?

Declan Rice - West Ham United

The lad who started his football journey with Chelsea found his home with the Hammers, where he grew into a true leader on and off the pitch. The 24-year-old English international is 85% similar to Busquets, but Barca probably have no chance of signing him, considering West Ham are likely to ask for a fee bigger than $100 million for their star player.

Declan Rice (©Getty Images)

Ibrahim Sangare - PSV Eindhoven

The only African player on this list comes from Ivory Coast and is an absolute revelation that flew under the radar. The 25-year-old native of Abidjan started off with Denguele Sports d'Odienne in his homeland and moved to Toulouse in France in 2016 as soon as he turned 18. He played regularly for Les Violets for three seasons but left for PSV in the Netherlands in 2020 when the French club suffered relegation from Ligue 1. For nearly three years, Sangare has been a staple for the Dutch club and has played in the Europa League for them. His market value is $38 million, and he's 85% similar to Busquets.

Edson Alvarez - Ajax

Mexican midfield battler is another player based in the Netherlands. He's been a first-team regular for the Amsterdam club since he joined them in 2019 from Club America in his homeland. The 25-year-old has played for Mexico in two World Cup finals already. He's valued at $38 million by Transfermarkt, while Olocip's software claims that he's 83% similar to Busquets.

Edson Alvarez (©Getty Images)

Orkun Kokcu - Feyenoord

Yet another player who earns his money in the Dutch Eredivisie. The 22-year-old has been in sensational form for the club from Rotterdam as their romped to their first national title after a six-year wait. The Turkey international is more offensively-minded, so his similarity to Busquets is estimated at 69%. However, his younger age and a slightly lower nominal price of $33 million could be tempting for Barcelona.