Inter Miami consider Barça's Sergi Roberto but deal looks unlikely

The departure of Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba in the summer made Sergi Roberto the first captain of FC Barcelona. It is an honour and a dream for a player who joined the Blaugrana youth academy as a cadet and is now in his 18th season as a Culer, the last 14 of which have been spent in the first team.

The player from Reus is an important part of Xavi's squad due to his experience and versatility. He has not been in the starting line-up at the beginning of the season, but he has played in six of the 11 games that have been played, providing quality minutes, such as in Granada, where he scored the goal that salvaged a point.

Athletic's visit to Monjuïc this Saturday (21.00) will be watched from the stands due to a calf injury, but Sergi Roberto hopes to be available for the clásico next Saturday 28th, also at Montjuïc (16.15).

The midfielder is motivated by his new role in the team, although it is inevitable that at 31 years of age there will be speculation about his future. In this sense, the international break has reactivated an option that had already been in the air when Leo Messi announced his move to Inter Miami and later when Busquets and Alba joined the Argentine.

Sergi Roberto then put those rumours to bed, but the season has not been as good as Inter, who have failed to reach the playoffs for the title, had hoped. And their intention is to continue reinforcing his squad.

And one of the names on their agenda is Sergi Roberto. Reports from Miami suggest that Inter are considering tempting the Barça midfielder to join up with his former team-mates. It is an option that the Blaugrana captain is not considering, at least not in the immediate future.

Proud to be captain of Barça

The possibility of captaining the project that Xavi is building excites him. He does not close the door to an adventure in the MLS in the future, but considers that he still has a long way to go and the pact he reached with Barça is that they will decide year by year his continuity.

The midfielder wants to stay at Barça for as long as possible. Proof of this is that he accepted a minimum contract -- he is the lowest paid in the squad -- to help the club overcome the difficult economic situation in which it finds itself.

If he continues to feel useful and the club is happy with his performances, Sergi Roberto will not listen to offers. And so far these conditions have been met.

The captain does not want to be a burden for the club of his life and the moment he considers that his role in the team is no longer important or the club indicates they don't count on him, it will not be a problem.

Inter's offer has one final problem that suggests it has no prospect of becoming a reality. The Miami franchise already has the three highest MLS signings in Messi, Busquets and Alba, so the contract they could offer Sergi Roberto would not be attractive enough for him to swap Barcelona for Miami.